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THE DANISH WEST INDIES 



' How the colonies were actually governed; what the 
colonists did at work and play; how the mother country 
stamped her image upon them, and to what extent the 
lineaments of that image were modified by contact with 
local forces — these are matters that interest the reader of 
to-day." — W. R. Shepherd. 



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THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

UNDER COMPANY RULE 
(1671-1754) 

WITH A SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER, 1755-1917 



<^ I) , , iw ' BY 

WALDEMAR WESTERGAARD, Ph. D. 

ASSISTANT PEOFESSOR OF HISTORY AT POMONA COLLEGE 



WITH AN INTRODUCTION 

BY 

H. MORSE STEPHENS, M. A., Litt. D. (Harv.) 

SATHER PROFESSOR OF mSTORY AT THE XTNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 



MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS 



Nfw fork 

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

1917 

All Tights reserved 



, v\/S^ 



COPYBIQHT, 1917 

By the MACMILLAN COMPANY 
Set up and printed. Published June, 1917. 




JUN21 1917 



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©C1A470023 



PREFACE 

Since the opening of the Panama Canal, the attention of 
the United States has been drawn more and more to those 
Caribbean and Gulf regions, which were, until comparatively 
recent times, the economic center of the New World and the 
source of a considerable part of that wealth which kept the 
wheels of industry running in the Old. If Tobacco was King 
in the seventeenth, and Cotton in the nineteenth, then Sugar 
surely held the scepter in the eighteenth century. 

This book was written before the United States began the 
negotiations that have resulted in the transfer of the Danish 
West Indian islands to the United States. The increased in- 
terest of Americans in Caribbean lands, and the scarcity of 
authoritative historical books upon the subject will it is hoped 
justify its appearance now. It assumes a certain curiosity on 
the part of the reader, first, as to how the Diinish-Norwegian 
state became interested in the islands off the Spanish Main, 
and second, how so small a state has managed to retain its hold 
for nearly two centuries and a half. 

The pages which follow record an episode in the time when 
Sugar was King. They are the result of an attempt to identify 
and appraise a number of official and other papers found in 
the Bancroft Collection at the University of California. These 
documents had come from the Danish West Indian islands, 
and were first brought to the writer's attention by Professor 
Henry Morse Stephens under whose inspiration and guidance 
the subsequent investigations were carried on. The paucity 
of the printed material dealing with the history of Danish 
colonization in America led to a search in the Danish libraries 
and archives for further light: The entire archives of the 
Danish West India and Guinea Company were found substan- 
tially intact in their repository in the state archives building of 
Denmark near Christiansborg castle. Except for the labors of 

[v] 



VI PREFACE 

a few scholars in search of genealogical and biographical in- 
formation, the collection had to all appearances scarcely been 
touched. 

With such a wealth of material to go through, the writer 
cannot claim to have exhausted his subject, but he hopes to 
have made more intelligible than hitherto the story of one of 
those commercial joint-stock companies that were so closely 
associated with the seventeenth and eighteenth century ex- 
ploitation of New World resources. 

Treated by itself, colonial history is well-nigh meaningless. 
Only when considered as part of European history — indeed, 
when related somehow to universal history — does it become 
vital. It is obvious that the political and economic development 
of American colonies cannot be adequately followed without 
giving considerable attention to the forces that prompted, and 
largely guided, commercial ventures. The present work is the 
history of a company composed mainly of Danish business 
men intent upon embracing such commercial opportunities as 
the New World seemed to offer them. Their headquarters 
were in Copenhagen, their factories, or trading centers, in the 
West Indies and on the Guinea coast. Business was the chief 
aim, the establishment of a colony an incident, of their en- 
deavors. Yet one cannot be understood apart from the other. 

The r61e played by Denmark-Norway in tropical coloniza- 
tion was indeed not large and not infrequently the interest of 
the English — or American — reader will center in what the men 
of the North saw and heard in the West Indies, rather than in 
what they did there. Yet, there was enough of what might be 
called economic solidarity in the Western commercial world 
to lend the Danish occupation a genuine interest. Despite 
local differences, the experiences of the Danes were fairly typical 
of those of the Dutch, the French, the English, and even the 
Spanish merchants and administrators. The physical condi- 
tions with which all had to contend were nearly identical. The 
political and economic ideas which the Europeans who sought 
to earn their livelihood in the West Indies brought with them 
had many points of similarity. In fact, the population of many 
of the islands was surprisingly cosmopolitan. 



PREFACE Vll 

In the eighty-four years of its existence, the Company led 
a varied and interesting life. During its early years it sur- 
vived the competition of Dutch, French, English, and Branden- 
burg business, whether private or corporate. With the opening 
of the new century it experienced the welcome, if rather hectic, 
glow of a period of prosperity induced by a general European 
war, that of the Spanish Succession. In the era of speculation 
and depression that followed the return of peace, the Danish 
Company had its experience with paper money expedients as a 
cure for hard times. 

In the history of the slave trade and of that tropical agri- 
culture which it was calculated to promote, and in the growth 
of the idea of self-government, the experience of the Danish 
colonies is suggestive. Though St. Thomas has been popularly 
associated with buccaneers and pirates, some of whose exploits 
are recorded in the following pages, it has scarcely been sus- 
pected heretofore that a considerable part of Captain Kidd's 
"treasure" found its way to the warehouses and ships of Danes 
and Brandenburgers on the island. 

But what was after all far more important than random calls 
by pirates was the fact that the Company helped to supply 
Europe with sugar, cotton and what are still known in Danish 
shops as colonial wares. Moreover, it served as a training school 
for statesmen who after this experience found the transition 
from the business of the Company to affairs of state less dif- 
ficult to compass. 

The writer has not hesitated to let the actors tell their own 
story, but to obviate needless obstruction to the narrative, 
and for the benefit of those readers who may care to probe 
deeper into the subject, such illustrative and statistical ma- 
terial as could not well be included in the body of the text has 
been incorporated into the appendix. Many names of char- 
acters and places not familiar to English readers in their Danish 
form have been anglicized where possible. The following list 
of Danish equivalents for the rendering of proper names given 
in the text is offered in the hope of preventing undue confusion 
for such as may care to consult the original records. Chris- 
tian = Christiern; George = Jorgen; Peter = Peder, Pieter; 



Vili PREFACE 

John = Jan, Johan, Johannes, Jens; OHver = Oliger; WilHam = 
Willem, Wilhelm; Severin = Soren; also Unicorn = Enhiorn- 
ingen; Unity = Eenigheden; Electoral Prince = Churprinz; the 
Peace = Freden; the Gilded Crown = den Forgyldte Krone; 
the Red Cock = den Rode Hane. 

To friends who have assisted him in numerous ways, the ( 
writer wishes to express his gratitude. Chief among these is 
Professor H. Morse Stephens, Sather Professor of History at 
the University of California, to whose generous encourage- 
ment this work owes its inception. He has followed the progress 
of the investigations with a never-flagging interest, and has 
always been ready to place his great store of knowledge at the 
writer's disposal. To Professor Charles H. Hull of Cornell 
University for patient guidance and valued instruction during 
a year at that institution as Fellow in American history, to 
Professor Herbert E. Bolton of the University of California 
for constructive criticism, to Mr. Herbert I. Priestley for 
valuable bibliographical hints, to Professor W. R. R. Pinger 
and Miss Florence Livingstone for suggestions as to style, 
sincere thanks are due. To the officials in the Danish archives 
and libraries whose services were generously placed at his dis- 
posal, the author takes pleasure in acknowledging his debt, 
and especially to former Rigsarkivar, Dr. V. Secher and his 
staff at the state and provincial archives. Dr. V. Christensen 
of the Raadstuearkiv, Professor Knud Fabricius, Dr. Ove Paul- 
sen, the officials of the Royal and University Libraries, and to 
Fru Anna Backer, Their uniform courtesy and helpfulness 
are among the writer's pleasant memories of his year in Copen- 
hagen. 

To His Excellency Dr. Maurice Francis Egan, American 
minister to Denmark, the writer desires to express his gratitude 
for assistance in securing access to materials. To the Regents 
of the University of California for aid in making possible the 
procuring of needed transcripts, grateful acknowledgment is 
due. 

The difficulty of correcting proof and checkmg up references 
to manuscript sources when archives are thousands of miles 
removed from the scene of writing may serve to explain, though 



PREFACE IX 

not to excuse, textual errors. The writer is indebted to Pro- 
fessor Hull for generous assistance in reading the final proofs. 

The present work, submitted as a thesis in partial fulfilment 
of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at 
the University of California in May, 1915, is the first volume 
of three which the writer hopes to devote to the history of the 
Danish West India Islands. The second will follow the for- 
tunes of the colonies down to the end of the Napoleonic Wars, 
and the third will bring the story down to the present time. In 
view, however, of the current interest aroused in the islands as 
a result of their purchase by the United States, a supplementary 
chapter has been added to this volume, summarizing their 
more recent history. 

Pomona College, 
Claremont, California, 
April 15, 1917. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 

1660. Couj) d'etat of Frederick III. 

1671. Establishment of West India Company. 

1673. West India and Guinea companies united. 

1685. Brandenburg treaty concerning St. Thomas. 

1690. Arff takes over Guinea factory. 

1690. Thormohlen lease of St. Thomas begins. 

1694. Company receives back St. Thomas. 

1696-97. Arfif gives up Guinea trade. 

1697. Company begins slave trade in earnest. 

1706. Planters send first delegation to Copenhagen. 

1715. Planters send second delegation. 

1717. St. John occupied by Danes. 

1726. Drought and famine on St. Thomas. 

1733. Negro insurrection on St. John. 

1733. St. Croix purchased from France. 

1734. New charter granted by king. 

1747. "Union plan and convention" enlarging Company. 

1748. Planters send third delegation to Copenhagen. 

1754. Company's shares sold to king; Danish islands become 
royal colonies. 



[xi] 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

PREFACE v-ix 

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE xi 

INTRODUCTION BY H. MORSE STEPHENS xvii 

AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION : Geographical and Historical 1 
Chap. 

I. The Establishment of the Company 31 

II. The Critical Period (1680-1690) 45 

III. The Brandenburgers at St. Thomas 71 

IV. The Leasing of Guinea and St. Thomas 95 

V. The Governorship of John Lorentz 105 

VI. St. Thomas and St. John as Plantation Colonies (1688- 

1733) 121 

VII. The Slave Trade in the Danish West Indies 137 

VIII. The Slave and the Planter 157 

IX. The Planter and the Company 179 

X. The Acquisition of St, Croix 199 

XL The Company under the New Charter 213 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 263 

APPENDLKES 

A. Governors in the West Indies and in Guinea 285 

B. Directors and Board op Shareholders in Copen- 

hagen 290 

C. The First Charter of the Danish West India Com- 

pany 294 

D. Charter of 1697 for the West India and Guinea Com- 

pany 299 

E. Letter of Charite Esmit to Adolph Esmit 303 

F. Report of Board of Police and Trade to King Fred- 

erick IV (1716) 306 

G. Governor Erik Bredal to Directors, 1719, 1722 315 

H. Statistics for St. Thomas: Population, Plantations. . . 318 

I. Statistics for St. John and St. Croix: Population, 

Plantations 319 

[xiii] 



XIV TABLE OF CONTENTS 

APPENDIXES PAGE 
J. List of Slave Cabgoes Abriving in Danish West In- 
dies 320 

|K. Pbices on St. Thomas (1687-1751) 327 

L. West Indian Sugar Exported from Copenhagen 328 

M. Company's Receipts and Debts at St. Thomas 332 

N. Company's Receipts and Debts at St. Crodc 334 

0. Capital Invested at St. Thomas under Plan of 1747 .... 335 

P. The Company's Business in Browtst Sugar 336 

Q. The Company's Business in Cotton 337 

R. Returns on Company's Capital 338 

S. St. Thomas Statistics: Miscellaneous 340 

T, St. Croix Statistics: Miscellaneous 341 

U. List of Shareholders in the Year 1751 342 

INDEX 351 



MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS 

Chbistiansted, St. Croix, in 1815 Frontispiece ' 

FACING 
PAGE 

Map of the Danish West Indian Islands 8 ^ 

{Botanisk Tidsskrift. Bd. 29. F. Borgesen) 
Map of St. Thomas (.n715-1733) 122 

(MS. Map, undated, Royal Library, Copenhagen) 
Map of St. John (1780) 127 ' 

(Published by P. L. Oxholm, Copenhagen, 1800) 
Map of Northeen Europe: Baltic and North Sea Lands . . 136 ' 
Christiansborg Castle, Guinea Coast 139 

(Engraved by M. Rosier, Copenhagen, 1760) 
Map of St. Croix 202 

(MS. Map, undated, Royal Library, Copenhagen) 
Sketch of St. Croix's Town 216 

(Watercolor drawing. State Archives, Copenhagen) 
Map of St. Thomas (1767) 245 

(Oldendorp's Geschichte der Mission, 1777) 
Map of St. Croix (1767) 245 

(Oldendorp's Geschichte der Mission, 1777) 
Map of St. Croix (1754, 1766) 248 

(Survey by J. M. Beck; engraved by O. H. de Lode, 1754; 
names of plantation owners filled in, 1766) 

St. Thomas Harbor (View to Westward) 257 

Map of Caribbean Lands 262 



[xv] 



INTRODUCTION 

In the month of December, 1916, the Danish Government 
solemnly transferred the sovereignty of the Danish West India 
Islands to the Government of the United States, and three 
months later the United States took possession of the islands of 
St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. From one point of view, 
this was the natural development of the United States as a 
West India power. The island of St. Thomas closely approaches 
the island of Porto Rico, the first island of the Caribbean Sea of 
which the United States became possessor. All that will appear 
upon the map will be the extension of the American Govern- 
ment from Porto Rico a little to the southeast. From a stra- 
tegical standpoint, the chief value of the Danish Islands to the 
United States is the possession of the harbor of St. Thomas; 
from an economic standpoint, it signifies a little further territory 
producing tropical fruits for the states of the eastern seaboard; 
from a political standpoint, it means another step in the expan- 
sion of the United States. But from the historian's outlook, it 
means the ending of the colonial power of Denmark, and thereby 
marks an epoch in history. 

The history of the West India Islands has a particular signif- 
icance to all students of the history of America. It was in the 
West Indies that took place the most bitter and prolonged 
struggle in American waters during the seventeenth and eight- 
eenth centuries. It is generally pointed out, with a sniff of con- 
tempt, that through the lack of prophetic vision among the 
statesmen of the eighteenth century, it was proposed during the 
negotiations of the Treaty of Paris, in 1763, that the triumphant 
English Ministry should not take Canada from France, but one 
of the French West India Islands, so much more valuable did the 
commerce of the West Indies appear than the possession of 
Canada. It was in the West Indies that the most famous naval 
combats of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were 

[ xvii ] 



XVlll INTRODUCTION 

fought, by the English against the Spanish in the seventeenth 
century, and by the Enghsh against the French in the eighteenth 
century. The struggle for the possession of the West Indies was, 
among the European nations of the seventeenth and eight- 
eenth centuries, both political and economic. To use a phrase 
of Doctor Westergaard's, those were the days when "sugar was 
king." The importance of the sugar trade overcame all other 
considerations, and the European nation that could grow its 
own sugar cane and import its own sugar in its own ships had an 
immense commercial advantage over other countries. The 
peculiar geographical formation of the West India Islands gave 
every one of the maritime nations of Europe a chance to grow 
its own sugar. The earliest of these nations in the West Indies, 
Spain, counted rather on other staples than sugar, and paid 
more attention to its mainland possessions than to its island 
possessions. Great Britain, by its settlement of Barbados and 
St. Christopher and by its conquest of Jamaica, definitely 
started its career as a planter and importer of sugar, and the 
French, the Dutch, the Danes, and even the Courlanders 
followed the example. ' One of the most interesting experiments 
in this direction was that of Denmark. 

Doctor Waldemar Westergaard, a scholar of Danish extrac- 
tion, though born in the United States, undertook, some years 
ago, to study the history of the Danish West India Islands. 
His knowledge of the Danish language from his childhood 
caused him to study with great interest certain Danish West 
India documents of primary importance which had been col- 
lected for Mr. H. H. Bancroft of San Francisco, and which now 
form part of the Bancroft Library, in the possession of the 
University of California. In his study of these particular docu- 
ments. Doctor Westergaard discovered that not even in the 
Danish language was there any reliable history of the Danish 
West Indies. He therefore resolved to go to Denmark, and 
there soon found that the Danish historians had neglected the 
history of their colonial possessions. He spent about a year 
working among the Danish documents, and was thereby enabled 
to obtain first-hand information as to the history of the Danish 
West India Islands, and to write a history of the Danish settle- 



INTRODUCTION xix 

ments based principally upon primary authorities. This in- 
troduction is not intended to be mere laudation of Doctor 
Westergaard or an account of his researches, which are described 
sufficiently well in his bibliography. The originality and 
merits of his book can be seen by the most superficial reader. 
Still less is this introduction intended to be a review of his book; 
it will be rather an attempt to set forth the results of Doctor 
Westergaard's labors as bearing upon the general history of the 
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 

Students of American colonial history know well enough the 
importance of the chartered companies, through which was 
made possible the early English settlement of the Atlantic 
seaboard of the present United States of America. But these 
companies which dealt with the mainland settlements only 
exhibit on a small scale the general principles by which com- 
panies were chartered for trade and plantation, not only by the 
English Government, but by other European countries as well. 
Some day it may be possible to bring out the likeness and un- 
likeness between the conditions under which companies were 
chartered in Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, and 
Denmark. M. Pierre Bonnassieux, in his Les Grandes Com- 
pagnies de Commerce, has given the outlines of such a study, and 
other French writers have dealt with phases of the French East 
India Company in particular. More interesting, if it could be 
made accessible from the primary sources, would be the history, 
and especially the early history, of the Dutch companies. The 
story of the English companies before 1720 has been written by 
Mr. William R. Scott, but their later history is scattered about 
in many different books dealing with India and America. On 
all of them is light thrown by Doctor Westergaard's elaborate 
study of the Danish company. In these modern days, an 
attempt is being made to revive the chartered-company idea in 
England, and the British North Borneo Company, under Sir 
Alfred Dent; the British East Africa Company, under Sir 
William Mackinnon; the British South Africa Company, under 
Cecil Rhodes; and the British West Africa Company, under Sir 
George Taubman-Goldie, have all of them been an adaptation 
of seventeenth-century ideas to nineteenth-century conditions. 



XX INTRODUCTION 

There have been two great principles of expansion and settle- 
ment of European nations in Asia, Africa, and America. The 
one, direct conquest and settlement by the governments of 
European nations, and the other the tapping of the financial 
resources of different countries through charters granted to 
companies of merchants who subscribed capital for settlement 
and trade beyond the seas, under the direct permission or 
license of their respective governments. Spain and Portugal 
were the two countries that beheved in direct expansion under 
royal authority. In some ways, the Portuguese experiment is 
more interesting, especially in regard to trade, than the far 
larger Spanish development of empire. The Portuguese Govern- 
ment, after the discovery of the direct sea route to India by 
Vasco da Gama, kept in its own hands as a government the 
entire trade of Asia. It was the Portuguese king's agents who 
purchased the cargoes for Portuguese royal ships in India and 
Ceylon, in China and Japan and Malacca, in Persia and Arabia. 
These cargoes of Asiatic produce were brought to Lisbon in the 
king's ships, and the goods were then purchased by individual 
merchants out of the king's warehouses. It would be possible to 
dwell at length upon the direct action of the Spanish and 
Portuguese Governments in the work of expansion, settlement, 
and trade in Asia, Africa, and America, but the illustration of 
the Portuguese Government's control of the Asiatic trade will 
serve to point out the chief characteristics of government direc- 
tion. Other countries, notably Great Britain and the Protestant 
Netherlands in the sixteenth century, and France and Denmark 
in the seventeenth century, did not, for the most part, work 
through direct governmental agency, but through chartered 
companies. The relation between these chartered companies 
and the governments of their respective countries is a matter of 
great interest, and much new light is thrown upon it by Doctor 
Westergaard's very careful presentation of the relation between 
the Danish West India Company and the Danish Government. 
It so happened that Danish expansion into the West Indies 
took place at the time when the government of Denmark- 
Norway was entirely in the hands of the Crown. The Revolu- 
tion of 1660 had put an end to any body of representatives in a 



INTRODUCTION xxi 

legislature, and the Crown took entire charge of all matters of 
administration. In Denmark, therefore, there was none of that 
interference on the part of the legislature which marks the 
history, in particular, of the English East India Company, which 
never quite knew, in the seventeenth century, whether it was 
under the Crown or under Parliament, while it knew very well 
in the eighteenth century that it must expect the interference 
of Parliament whenever an opportunity offered. The Danish 
Crown, therefore, played a considerable part in the history of the 
Danish Company, even more than that of the French Crown 
in the history of the various French companies. In France, as 
in the Protestant Netherlands, the main reliance of the respec- 
tive chartered companies was upon the various mercantile 
corporations, or rather organizations of the business interests of 
France; while in England it was the individual merchants that 
rallied together to form the first holders of stock in the great 
plantation and commercial companies. 

A point to be noticed is that the Danish Company was, at the 
same time, a plantation and a trading company. In the minds 
of the expansionists of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 
there was no great distinction made between trade and planta- 
tion, and all students of English history will remember the 
important functions of the Board of Trade and Plantations, 
whose administrative powers extended over the varied interests 
of English colonial expansion. Doctor Westergaard has clearly 
distinguished between plantation and trade, and has shown how 
different were the problems presented by each of them. 

The staple product of the Danish West India plantations, as 
of the plantations in all the other islands, was sugar. Doctor 
Westergaard explahis at length the character of the sugar 
plantations, the working of the manufacture of sugar, and the 
intensive cultivation of the sugar cane followed by the inevitable 
exhaustion of the soil. But the chief problem of the sugar 
planters was labor. At first, the Danish Company tried to 
make use of the dregs of the white population of Copenhagen. 
But these first Danish immigrants died off like flies. They were 
unable to withstand labor in the Tropics. This had also been 
discovered by the English in the seventeenth century, and, 



xxii INTRODUCTION 

indeed, by all European planters in the West Indies. The 
natives of the islands could not work, and the labor problem, 
therefore, produced the negro slave trade. This meant the 
establishment by Denmark, as well as by the other countries 
owning plantations, of barracoons, defended by forts, on the 
west coast of Africa, where negro slaves could be collected for 
transport to the West Indies. Very carefully has Doctor 
Westergaard described these establishments, and shown their 
importance to the prosperity of the Islands. Indeed, a careful 
study of his book and of his appendixes will show what some may 
think a disproportionate amount of space devoted to the slave 
trade. On the other hand, it must be borne in mind that the 
negro slave trade was one of the most important phases of com- 
merce in the eighteenth century, and that the wise stockholder 
in a West India trading and plantation company would naturally 
endeavor to have the company import slaves for its own and the 
planters' use in company ships rather than to buy them at a 
big profit to slave traders of other countries. 

Denmark is a very small country compared to Spain, France, 
and Great Britain, and yet shows in the history of her West 
India Islands, it is possible to say, many illustrations of the 
mistakes that ruined the more extensive experiments of other 
nations. This is not the proper place to describe Doctor Wester- 
gaard's treatment of individuals, although he has made quite a 
picture gallery of governors, factors, captains, chaplains, states- 
men, and politicians. To some readers, his personal description 
of individuals will appeal more than any other feature, but to 
others the larger economic and political questions involved will 
seem of greater interest. One episode m particular might be 
here mentioned, the story of the Brandenburg Company. The 
Great Elector of Brandenburg is a figure to conjure with; from 
him started the larger growth of the House of Hohenzollern and 
its development into King of Prussia and German Emperor. 
Those who read the past in the light of the present have some- 
times wondered that neither Brandenburg nor Prussia had its 
part in the great movement of colonial expansion. Close stu- 
dents of HohenzoUern history know that Frederick the Great of 
Prussia deliberately resolved not to make his state into a naval 



INTRODUCTION xxiii 

or a colonial power, but comparatively few know that the 
attempt was made earlier, not in the direct fashion of sov- 
ereignty, but through an arrangement with the King of Den- 
mark, in the West Indies. It seems curious, at the present 
time, to think of the Hohenzollern Prince, and one as famous as 
the Great Elector, making arrangements with Denmark for a 
West India sugar experiment. The story of the Brandenburgers 
has been dealt with at considerable length by Doctor Wester- 
gaard, and doubtless, to some readers, this will prove the most 
interesting new fact brought to their attention. We have to 
remember that Brandenburg was a poor country in the seven- 
teenth century, and that it had not the capital or the means to 
develop a colonial power. We must remember also that it had 
no sea power, while Denmark-Norway was one of the great sea 
powers, on account of its extended coast line, its geographical 
position, and the efficiency of its sailors. 

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Danish 
West Indies passed through various stages of prosperity and 
failure, and were at times profitable to the Danish Crown and to 
the Danish people, and at other times a drain upon their re- 
sources. But the time at last came, in the nineteenth century, 
when there was no more profit to be made out of cane sugar, and 
the Danish Islands definitely declined. The abolition of the 
negro slave trade, the development of beet sugar, the building 
up of larger political and economic units, all played their part 
in decreasing the value of the Danish West Indies either to 
Denmark or to the inhabitants themselves. The same depres- 
sion from the same causes was to be seen in the West India 
possessions of other European countries. Ever since the aboli- 
tion of negro slavery, the English West Indies have been profit- 
less. But for pride, the Danes might have easily abandoned 
their West India possessions many years ago. But pride in 
their past is pretty strong in small nationalities that have once 
been powers in the world. Denmark, after losing Norway in 
1814, and Schleswig-Holstein in 1864;, became a very small na- 
tion indeed, and the Danish West Indies became rather a burden 
than anything else. Only one nation in the world desired the 
possession of the Danish West Indies, and that not for economic 



xxiv INTRODUCTION 

reasons. I think that it can be asserted that neither Great 
Britain nor France would have taken them as a gift, but the 
United States of America has, for more than a half century, de- 
sired the harbor of St. Thomas for strategic reasons. Porto 
Rico, acquired after the Spanish- American War in 1898, had no 
naval base, and when the Panama Canal was finally undertaken 
and then built, it became worth while for the United States to 
look again towards the acquisition of St. Thomas. The only 
argument against the cession of the Islands was historic pride, 
and in these days of European crisis, historic pride could not 
stand further against actual need. So the Danes made up their 
minds to forget that they had been a West India power, and to 
the great delight of the inhabitants of the Islands, who, as 
Doctor Westergaard points out, are generally not Danes, and to 
sell their West India possessions to the United States of Amer- 
ica. It might be imagined that some patriotic Danes would 
feel deeply the loss of the Islands as signifying the passing of an 
historic relic of the Danish past, but the neglect which the 
Danish people have shown for the history of their West Indies, 
as shown in Doctor Westergaard's statement that no Danish 
scholar has written the history of the Islands, and that even the 
most valuable primary authorities have been utterly neglected, 
shows that the feeling of historic pride has not gone very deep 
among Danish scholars. At any rate, it should be noted as an 
interesting fact, that the first history of the Danish West Indies, 
written from primary sources, should be the work of the son of a 
Danish family which immigrated to North Dakota, and that he 
should have received his historical training at the University of 
California. 

H. Morse Stephens. 



THE DANISH WEST INDIES 



THE DANISH WEST INDIES UNDER 
COMPANY RULE 

(1671-1754) 
introduction: geographical and historical 

If Belgium has been described, and not inaccurately, as "the 
cockpit of Europe," the West Indies may be regarded as "the 
cockpit" of sea power. The islands and mainland of the 
Caribbean and Gulf regions have been among the prizes for 
which European states have contended in practically every 
war of consequence that has been fought during the seventeenth 
and eighteenth centuries. 

Just why Spaniards, Frenchmen and Englishmen, Dutchmen 
and Danes, Swedes and Brandenburgers, and even Knights of 
Malta and Courlanders, should all at one time or another havie 
directed their energies to West Indian commerce and commer- 
cial exploitation is a question that very few, beyond a limited 
number of specialists, are able intelligently to answer. The 
heterogeneous character of the West Indian political map of 
to-day has behind it an interesting story, and one thoroughly 
worth studying, for those who wish to grasp understandingly the 
reasons for European interest in America before Spain lost her 
various American colonies on the mainland. So far as the 
immediate effects upon Europe were concerned, the beating 
back of the Spanish frontier in the Caribbean regions by Spain's 
commercial rivals was far more important at the time than the 
distant frontier struggles of Spaniards, Frenchmen, and Enghsh- 
men on the mainland of America. 

The present study is an attempt to separate from the tangled 
skein of West Indian history the single small thread that con- 
cerns the early efforts of Denmark-Norway to establish itself 
in those distant regions. It is an attempt to explain the strange 

[1] 



2 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

fascination that drew the blonde and hardy blue-eyed traders 
and sailors from the cold Baltic shores to distant tropical regions 
where the bounties of Nature — it must often have seemed — only 
served to lure the newcomer on to sickness and death. 

Denmark possesses three small islands in the West Indies; 
St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. With the exception of a 
few months in 1801 and the period 1807-1815, when England 
seized them to prevent their being of use to Napoleon, with 
whom Denmark was to all intents and purposes allied, they 
have since remained continuously under Danish rule. St. 
Thomas was first permanently settled by Danes in 1672; St. 
John, although claimed as early as 1683, was not actually settled 
until 1716-1717; St. Croix was purchased from France in 1733, 
and settled by colonists from the other two islands early in 1735. 
Spasmodic attempts at occupation had taken place before by 
the Dutch and English on St. Thomas, and by French, Knights 
of Malta, and miscellaneous rovers on St. Croix. 

The total area of the three islands is but a trifle over one 
hundred and thirty-two square miles, or about three and a half 
townships. The acreage of St. Thomas is 18,080; of St. John, 
12,780.8, and of St. Croix, 53,913.6.^ At its greatest length, St. 
Thomas extends about thirteen and three-fourths miles (22 km.), 
its breadth at the town of Charlotte Amalia is but one and one- 
half miles (2.3 km.), and its greatest width three and three- 
fourths miles (6 km.). The two northern islands form part of 
the Virgin island group, and all three belong to the group still 
frequently designated as the Leeward Islands.^ Together they 
form part of the northwestern extremity of that " bow of Ulys- 
ses" constituting the Lesser Antilles, stretching from Porto 
iElico to the east and then southward in a mighty sweep of seven 
hundred miles, ending at Trinidad off the South American main- 
land. With the Greater Antilles and the mainland, they enclose 

1 Eggers (St. Croix's Flora, p. 33), gives 51,861 acres for St. Croix. The 
figures quoted are taken from The National Geographic Magazine for July, 
1916, p. 89. 

* The Leeward Islands include the Virgin Islands, St. Christopher (St. Kitts), 
St. Eustatius, Antigua, Montserrat, Guadaloupe, Martinique, and their various 
dependencies. 



INTRODUCTION 3 

the Caribbean Sea, which is separated from the Gulf of Mexico 
by Cuba and the peninsula of Yucatan. 

The spectator who stands in clear weather above Botany 
Bay in the west end of St. Thomas and looks westward beyond 
the little islands of Culebra and Vieques or Crab may plainly see 
Porto Rico. From the hills that command St. Thomas harbor, 
the observer may discern St. Croix on the southern horizon 
thirty -five miles away. St. John, near neighbor to St. Thomas 
and equally mountainous, is less than three miles from the 
eastern end of that island. The trip from Smith's Bay, St. 
Thomas, to Crux Bay, St. John, is but a matter of an hour by 
rowboat or sail. The British Virgin Islands lie immediately to 
the eastward, the nearest of them, Tortola, being but twenty 
minutes distant by rowboat from St. John. Like the rest of the 
entire archipelago, these islands are of volcanic origin, and sub- 
ject to frequent earthquakes,^ which are however rarely de- 
structive. The two islands, St. Thomas and St. John, rise out 
of the same plateau. Between them and St. Croix the Caribbean 
Sea deepens to 15,000 feet. Sail-boats plying between St. 
Thomas and St. Croix must be extremely cautious during the 
summer months, in the so-called hurricane season. The islands 
lie directly in the track of the tradewinds that blow down from 
southwestern Europe and Madeira. This was the reason why 
they were among the first lands to be sighted by Columbus on 
his initial voyage westward. 

The Spaniards devoted their attention to the larger islands, 
and, naturally enough, with the increasing importance of the 
Spanish trade, the lesser islands became desirable outposts for 
those nations whose traders were all, by lawful means or with- 
out, to gain a share in that trade. Of such islands few had more 
natural advantages than St. Thomas. Its harbor aflforded pro- 
tection to ships in all but the severest storms, its beaches were 
admirably suited to the careening and overhauling of sailing 
vessels,^ and it was easily fortified and defended. 

^ During a period of five and one-half years. Dr. Hornbech noted not less than 
thirty-three quakes, none of them violent (Bergsoe, Den danske Stats Staiistik, 
IV, 579). 

^ See Grigri or Gregerie on map facing p. 8, just west of harbor. 



4 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

Besides the harbor, St. Thomas has along its coast line nu- 
merous smaller indentations, usually referred to on the islands 
as "bays," although many are scarcely more than landing 
places. It is the existence of such bays in this and in many 
other West Indian islands that has made it practically im- 
possible in the past for officials to put an end to smuggling. 
Christian Martfeldt, a Danish economist who visited the islands 
about 1765, listed and described forty-five such "bays" in St. 
Thomas, and thirty-one in St. John. It is worthy of note that he 
considered Coral (Craal) bay in St. John as not only a better 
harbor than the one in St. Thomas, but the best in the entire 
West Indies. It is in fact about twice as deep, and can hold 
about twice as many vessels.^ But St. Thomas harbor has al- 
ways been quite large enough to accommodate such shipping as 
came to it; hence the harbor of St. John, with perhaps greater 
natural advantages, has been practically ignored in favor of 
that of St. Thomas, which after all was first settled and lay 
closer to Porto Rico. 

Ships sailing for the West Indies steered for the islands off the 
west African coast, whence they were swept on their way south- 
westward by the tradewinds. The journey usually occupied 
about seven or eight weeks, although under particularly favora- 
ble circumstances it might be made in four. On the return trip 
the vessel steered north and west of its outward course, passing 
as a rule about two hundred miles to the east of the Bermudas. 
The usual procedure for a ship from Copenhagen was to leave 
in September or October for St. Thomas, remain there until the 

^ "In it [Coral Bay] 400 to 500 vessels large and small can ride at anchor. 
It has various suitable landing places for the plantations lying round about, 
separated from each other by out-jutting points which form the said bays. 
Beside the 6 English families mentioned in the [appended] table there are 16 
others, [which he names], from which one may perceive its great extent. It is, 
besides, provided with a beautiful hurricane 'hole' on the east (north?) side, 
where 40 to 50 vessels and more may lie safe against storms and so close in to 
the shore that one may walk ashore on a board, not to mention those that can 
lie in the 'stream.' In this hurricane hole ... a number of careening places 
could [easily] be constructed . . . where vessels could conveniently be ca- 
reened." Martfeldt, Samlinger . . . Vol. III. Cf. Bryan Edwards, History 
of the British Colonies in the West Indies, I, 459: "St. John is of importance as 
having the best harbor of any island to the leeward of Antigua." 



INTRODUCTION 5 

winter's sugar cane crop had been harvested, boiled down and 
put into casks, and then in April or May to sail for home with a 
completed cargo. 

Almost from the first, the chief product of the islands has 
been sugar, although tobacco and cotton have played an im- 
portant part in the economy of the islands at certain periods. 
Their prosperity as i^lantation colonies has always been pecu- 
liarly dependent upon the rainfall. St. Thomas in particular 
has ever been subject to severe and protracted droughts, and 
has not infrequently suffered from torrential downpours. "We 
have had no rain for six months, and the cane is drying up in the 
fields," is a plaint frequently found in the reports of governors. 
Nevertheless, St. Thomas and St. John are the most fertile of 
the Virgin Islands. 

The rains are on the whole fairly evenly distributed through 
the seasons, though the period from the beginning of May till 
the close of November is more subject to showers than the winter 
months. The showers are usually local and of short duration; 
hence it frequently happens that one plantation may have 
plenty of rain while its neighbor suffers from drought.® Dr. 
Hornbech's carefully kept meteorological journal shows an 
average annual precipitation for St. Thomas of 43+ inches for 
the decade, 1828-1838. On St. Croix, Major Lang made pains- 
taking observations at the plantation Eliza's Retreat, situated 
four hundred feet above sea level and just east of Christiansted, 
covering the period 1838 to 1861, and he found the annual rain- 
fall there to be but thirty-seven and six-tenths inches. Egger's 
calculations for the whole of St. Croix for the years 1852 to 1873 
give an average downpour of forty-four and forty-eight one 
hundredths inches, indicating a fairly uniform rainfall on the 
smaller islands. '^ 

The species of calamity that strikes deepest terror in the 
heart of the West Indian is the hurricane, and St. Thomas is 

" In Bergsoe (IV, 571 et seq.) is given a thorough discussion of climatic condi- 
tions on the Danish islands based in part upon the observations of Dr. Horn- 
bech and Prof. Pedersen. See also Baron Eggers, St. Croix's Flora, pp. 41 et seq. 

^ Eggers, p. 46, quotes A. S. Oersted's estimate for the precipitation in the 
southern part of Jamaica as forty-six inches. 



6 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

one of those islands that has suffered most from hurricanes. 
The custom that long prevailed on the Danish islands, of setting 
aside two days for prayer, one on June 25 and the other on Oc- 
tober 25, at the beginning and end of the "hurricane season," 
reflects the popular fear of these storms. They are not limited 
altogether to these summer months, for according to an author- 
ity whose work is dated 1853, one hundred and twenty-eight 
destructive hurricanes have visited the West Indies during the 
past three hundred and fifty-eight years, and of these, eleven 
occurred in July, forty in August, twenty-eight in September, 
and the remaining forty -nine during the other months.^ 

Besides being dangerous to human life on land and sea, they 
may when violent, pull the roofs off the houses, uproot trees, 
cast vessels in the harbors high up on the beach, and completely 
demolish the growing crops. On August 31, 1772, St. Croix was 
visited by a hurricane which was described in the local news- 
paper ^ as the "most dreadful Hurricane known in the memory 
of man." It began about nightfall and "blew like great guns, 
for about six hours, save for half an hour's intermission." The 
shipping in the harbor was driven ashore, houses everywhere 
were shattered, "the whole frame of nature seemed unhinged 
and tottering to its fall . . . terrifying even the just, for who 
could stand undisturbed amid the ruins of a falling world. . . . 
A few such events would ruin us in temporals, but help us in 
spirituals, and make us fit for the Kingdom of Heaven; for the 
Turk, the Jew, the Atheist, the Protestant, and Papist would 
join in unanimous prayer to appease the Lord of Hurri- 
canes." 

This catastrophe, which cost the lives of seven whites and 
nine negroes, was so eloquently described in a letter written 
by a young counting house clerk on the island, Alexander 
Hamilton, to his father, that attention was attracted to his 
ability and he was sent to King's College, New York, to com- 
plete his education. The letter ^'^ ran as follows: 

^ Bergsoe, IV, 579, note. 

* Royal Danish American Gazette (St. Croix), Sept. 9, 1772. 
"' Ibid., Oct. 3, 1772. Mrs. Gertrude Atherton in A few of Hamilton's let- 
ters . . . (New York, 1903), pp. 261 et seq., quotes this letter in full. 



INTRODUCTION 7 • 

St. Croix, September 6, 1772. 
Honored Sir, 

I take up my pen, just to give you an imperfect account of one 
of the most dreadful hurricanes that memory or any records 
whatever can trace, which happened here on the 31st ultimo at 
night. 

It began about dusk, at north, and raged very violently till 
ten o'clock. — ^Then ensued a sudden and unexpected interval, 
which lasted about an hour. Meanwhile the wind was shifting 
round to the south west point, from whence it returned with re- 
doubled fury and continued till nearly three in the morning. 
Good God ! what horror and destruction — it is impossible for me 
to describe — or you to form any idea of it. It seemed as if a 
total dissolution of nature was taking place. The roaring of 
the sea and wind — fiery meteors flying about in the air — the 
prodigious glare of almost perpetual lightning — the crash of 
falling houses — and the earpiercing shrieks of the distressed, 
were suflBcient to strike astonishment into Angels. A great 
part of the buildings throughout the island are levelled to the 
ground — almost all the rest very much shattered — several per- 
sons killed and numbers utterly ruined — whole families roaming 
about the streets, unknowing where to find a place of shelter — 
the sick exposed to the keenness of water and air — without a 
bed to lie upon — or a dry covering to their bodies — and our 
harbors entirely bare. In a word, misery, in its most hideous 
shapes, spread over the whole face of the country. — A strong 
smell of gunpowder added somewhat to the terrors of the night; 
and it was observed that the rain was exceedingly salt. Indeed 
the water is so brackish and full of sulphur that there is hardly 
any drinking it. . . . Our General has issued several very 
salutary and humane regulations, and both in his public and 
private measures, has shown himself the Man. 

Notwithstanding these occasional stormy visitations, the is- 
lands are endowed with varied and interesting plant resources. 
Along the coast line, where the land has not been cleared, is a 
thick belt of well-nigh impenetrable bush and trees of which the 
manchilla tree, the mangrove and the cocoanut palm are among 
the most striking. The cultivated region is especially adapted 
to the growing of sugar cane, although the hilly eastern third of 
St. Croix has had in times past a considerable acreage devoted 
to cotton. The forest region on St. Croix lies mainly in the 
eastern third where croton brush covers nearly all of the moun- 
tains except an occasional patch suitable for cotton culture, and 



8 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

the belt on the north side of the ridge west of Salt River, where 
the most characteristic growth is the eriodendron, or silk cotton 
tree. On St. Thomas the croton and eriodendron are found 
chiefly on the southern slopes of the ridge. ^^ The northern 
slopes of St. Thomas and St. John are reputed to be better 
suited to plantation purposes than the southern. The former 
island, practically a submerged fragment of mountain ridge, 
varies in elevation from about one thousand two hundred and 
fifty feet (380 meters) near the west to about one hundred and 
fifty to two hundred and fifty feet (45 to 75 meters) at its 
broader eastern extremity. Settlers seeking plantation ground 
had first to find a piece of grassland, if possible, or ground not 
too thickly covered with bush or forest. Some fustic, pock- 
wood, or mahogany was not objectionable, for the dyewood 
often made a profitable ballast for a sugar and tobacco cargo, 
while cabinet and building woods found a ready market in the 
older English settlements to windward. Despite the fact that 
St. Thomas and St. John were but poorly adapted to plantation 
purposes as compared with St. Croix, which was the last island 
occupied by the Danes, St. Thomas had acquired a prosperous 
planting population before the close of the war of the Spanish 
Succession in 1713, and had one hundred and sixty-six planta- 
tions by the time St. Croix was purchased (1733); while St. 
John, the permanent occupation of which began in the latter 
part of 1716, had one hundred and three plantations surveyed or 
assigned and nearly three-fourths of them under cultivation at 
the same date.^^ 

The severest drawback, especially when the colony was new, 
was the inevitable fever, probably mainly malarial. The white 
inhabitants, governors, preachers, planters, seemed helpless 
when the fever was rife; and epidemics of smallpox frequently 
carried off great numbers of slaves. Newly arrived settlers, and 
particularly recently imported soldiers, of whose habitual 
drunkenness the governors constantly complained, were par- 

i^Eggers, pp. 51 fE.; Borgesen (Dansk Vestindien), pp. 601 ff.; Borgesen og 
Paulsen, Om Vegetationen paa de dansk-vestindinke Oer, pp. 69 £F. 

'- Land -Lister for St. Thomas og St. Croix. The usual size of a plantation was 
3000 X idOOO feet. 



INTRODUCTION 9 

ticularly liable to attacks of fever, which carried off many of 
them. It is quite likely that the hookworm took its toll of 
victims. 

A brief resume of that European overseas expansion in which 
Denmark-Norway played a small but rather interesting part, is 
necessary to the understanding of how that state came to be a 
colonizing power at all. The two great regions which became 
subject to European commercial and colonial expansion as a 
result of the age of discovery were, broadly speaking, America 
and the coasts of southern Asia with those East Indian islands 
lying to the southeast beyond the Straits of Malacca. To the 
first of these regions, excepting Brazil, the Spaniards claimed 
exclusive title, while the Portuguese laid claim to Brazil and to 
those East Indian localities to which their explorers had first 
discovered the sea route, and which were for a time to make 
Lisbon the commercial center of Europe. Of the two regions, 
the Far East offered at first far better opportunities for trade. 
The Portuguese merchants found there peoples of a relatively 
high degree of civilization, who produced a surplus of goods 
beyond their needs. The Spaniards on the other hand found a 
nearly virgin land peopled by savages who for the most part 
had only the most rudimentary ideas of trade. Until these new- 
found lands could be made to open their store of mineral and 
agricultural treasure, they would seem to be merely an obstacle 
that blocked the way to the real India. 

But colonization was promptly begun after the discovery, and 
by 1580, when Philip II of Spain became king also of Portugal, 
the Spaniards had made large settlements in the New World. 
The wealth of Peruvian and Mexican mines had begun to flow to 
Spain, and the news of that wealth to Spain's neighbors in 
Europe. The Reformation had divided Europe into two armed 
camps. Religious feeling intensified political and commercial 
rivalries. Protestant England under Elizabeth was ready to 
contest with Catholic Spain the supremacy of the sea; while the 
seven northern provinces of the Low Countries, which in 1579 
had formed the Union of Utrecht and two years later had pro- 
claimed their independence from Spain, were ready to assist in 



10 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

breaking that commercial monopoly in East and West which 
was now made doubly dangerous through the union of Spain 
and Portugal. The Dutch continued, though with increasing 
difficulty, to carry Far Eastern goods from Lisbon to the ports 
of northern Europe. When, however, in 1595 Philip II caused 
the seizure of four or five hundred Holland and Zeeland ships 
then lying in Spanish and Portuguese harbors, it was clear to 
the Dutch that a readjustment of their commercial methods 
must take place before they could hope for good times. Jan 
van Linschoten had already published some of those geograph- 
ical and trade secrets long jealously guarded by the Portuguese, 
and on April 2, 1595, ten rich Amsterdam merchants sent out a 
fleet to the East Indies under Cornelis Houtman. Not until 
July, 1597, did Houtman return to Amsterdam with three of his 
four ships and only a third of his men, and with a small cargo for 
his pains. The enterprise cost more than it yielded, but it 
showed that with good fortune larger profits might be expected. 
The entering wedge had been driven into the Portuguese 
monopoly. Houtman's voyage was followed by the organiza- 
tion of other and competing Dutch companies, which were 
finally on March 29, 1602, merged into one great organization, 
the Dutch East India Company. Meantime Queen Elizabeth 
had followed up the English victory over the Invincible Armada 
in 1588, when the hollowness of the Spanish naval prestige had 
been decisively demonstrated, by sending an expedition under 
Captains Raymond and Lancaster in 1591 around the Cape of 
Good Hope to Cape Comorin, Ceylon and the Malay Peninsula. 
On December 31, 1600, the Queen granted a charter to "The 
Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading to 
the East Indies," otherwise known as the London East India 
Company. ^^ The organization of these two companies, English 
and Dutch, was followed by that of French, Danish, and Swedish 
companies, and marked the beginning of the end of Portuguese 
monopoly in East Indian regions. ^^ 

^* This is not to be confused with the English East India Company incor- 
porated in 1698 and amalgamated with the above company in 1709. C. P. 
Lucas, The Mediterranean and Eastern Colonies, p. 189, note. 

^■^ A good working list of commercial companies organized in Europe from 



INTRODUCTION 11 

In the West similar attempts were made to break the hold 
of Spain on the New World. Even before the destruction of the 
Armada, Sir Walter Ralegh had attempted the colonization of 
Newfoundland and Virginia. Not until the reign of Elizabeth's 
successor did the English found a permanent settlement, when 
the English Virginia Company sent out an expedition which, in 
spite of Spanish protests, settled on the James River. These 
successes emboldened the rivals of Spain and Portugal in East 
and West to fresh activities. The Dutch, encouraged by the 
success of their early expeditions, first established factories at 
Bantam, Amboyna, and other places, and in 1619 proceeded to 
the conquest of the province of Jacatra in Java. As early as 
1612 they had begun the occupation of Ceylon (at Trinkomalee), 
though they did not finally drive the Portuguese from the 
island until 1658.^^ By 1641 they had gained control of the 
Straits of Malacca and had become supreme in the Malay seas.^^ 
The English had established their first settlement in India in 
1611, and organized the Presidency of Madras in 1639. Mean- 
while the Danes, through their East India Company, organized 
in 1616, had founded one factory at Tranquebar in southern 
India in 1618, and others near the mouth of the Ganges, at 
Pipley and Balasor shortly thereafter, while Danish ships 
navigated as far as the Spice Islands in search of cargoes. ^'^ 

That part of the western world the settlement of which was 
calculated to affect Spanish trade monopoly most vitally was the 
West Indian archipelago. The Spanish treasure fleets which 
sailed from Porto Bello and Vera Cruz were obliged to pass some 
of these islands in crossing the Caribbean Sea or the Gulf of 
Mexico. The occupation of these islands was one of the surest 
means by which Spain's enemies could gratify their cupidity, 
and it gave them a base for other activities of a more strictly 
commercial nature. The Bermudas, situated near the route 
1554 to 1698 is given by E. P. Cheyney in European Background of American 
History, 137-139. 

^^ Lucas, The Mediterranean and Eastern Colonies, 102. 

^^ Keller, Colonization, 416. 

" See Kay Larsen, De dansk-ostindiske Koloniers Historie (Kobenhavn, 1908), 
for a detailed account of Danish activities in the East Indies. The factory at 
Pipley was established in 1625. 



12 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

used for the return trip to Europe from the Spanish Main and 
the islands, were settled by the Enghsh in 1609-1616. ^^ The 
first footholds gained by the English in the West Indies them- 
selves were in Barbados, just east of the Windward Islands, and 
in St. Christopher (or St. Kitts) in the Leeward group. These 
two islands became centers of English influence and settlement 
in the West Indies. From St. Kitts, which was occupied jointly 
by French and English in 1625, English settlers went in 1628 to 
Nevis and Barbuda, and in 1632 to Antigua and Montserrat, all 
of them islands belonging to the Leeward group. The Dutch 
took joint possession of St. Croix with the English in 1625, and 
seven years later stationed themselves in St. Eustatius, a tiny 
island some half score miles to the northwest of St. Kitts, and 
in Tobago, near Trinidad. Pushing down closer to the Spanish 
Main and nearer to the isthmus of Panama, they occupied the 
island of Curagao, lying near the entrance to the gulf of Ven- 
ezuela, in 1634. Saba, an islet near St. Eustatius, was occupied 
in 1640.19 

The outlook for profitable trade in the West Indies had led the 
Dutch to organize in 1621 a West India company which was to 
become an important factor in the struggle of the Dutch state 
with Spain. The next nation to found a West India company 
was the French, which, under the encouragement of Richelieu, 
formed in 1626 the Company of St. Christopher.^ This was 
reorganized in 1635 under the name of the Company of the Isles 
of America. In the latter year the company began the settle- 
ment of Guadaloupe, while a group of settlers from St. Kitts 
established themselves at Martinique at about the same time.^^ 
Tortuga, or la Tortue, a little island off the north coast of His- 
paniola (San Domingo) was likewise colonized by Protestant 
settlers from St. Kitts who in 1640 joined a few Frenchmen who 
had attempted settlement before but had been disturbed by 
Spaniards. Some Frenchmen who had been driven from St. 
Kitts by Spaniards in 1629 had settled on the north coast of 

^* Lucas, II, 7 et seq. 

19 Ihid., II, Sec. II. Ch. 1, -passim. 

^^ Mims, Colbert's West India Policy, p. 15. 

21 Ibid., 23, 26, 27. 



INTRODUCTION 13 

San Domingo, where they remained a small buccaneering and 
filibustering colony until the time of Colbert.^^ 

During this first half of the seventeenth century, the sugges- 
tion for the formation of a West India company came up both 
in England and Denmark, but without tangible result in either 
case. English commercial companies were directing their chief 
attentions in America to the Atlantic and Caribbean main- 
land,^^ while Denmark, which had already entered the East 
India field, was forced to neglect that for a considerable period 
on account of more urgent affairs nearer home. Not until the 
century was nearly three-fourths past was the latter state able 
to devote itself seriously to American trade and coloniza- 
tion. 

But what was this Danish state, that could thus presume to 
seek a share of the world's newly opened commerce, that had 
won a Hapsburg princess for one of its kings, that could venture 
to send a prince to sue for the hand of Queen Elizabeth, that 
had furnished an asylum for Bothwell on the death of Mary 
Stuart and a queen for James VI of Scotland, and that had had a 
king who had become for a time the recognized leader of Prot- 
estant Europe.'^ After the great outburst of activity in the 
Viking Age, when the Northmen succeeded for a brief period 
in maintaining a North Sea empire, the Scandinavian lands had 
passed through a period of strife with north German princes and 
between local rulers. Out of this welter of conflict arose the 
Union of Kalmar (1397) with Queen Margaret as the sole mon- 
arch of the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. 
This union lasted with few interruptions until Sweden broke 
away under the leadership of Gustav Eriksson (Gustavus Vasa) 
in 1523. During this period of a century and a quarter, a 
desperate struggle with the Hanseatic League for the control of 
the Baltic and the North Sea had retarded the development of 
commerce and sea power in the three kingdoms. Denmark had 
long been the chief enemy of the League, and had been forced to 
see Bergen arise as a rival to Copenhagen, although Bergen was 
located in a land closely united to the Danish crown. Not until 

-2 Mixas, Colbert's West India Policy, p. 29. 
^^ The Guinea Company was formed in 1609. 



14 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

the reign of King Hans ( + 1513), was Denmark able to meet the 
Hanseatic League in battle on an even footing and to curb its 
privileges in Scandinavian cities. It was King Hans' chief 
glory that he furnished Denmark with a fleet and made her once 
more a sea power. ^^ 

The last ruler to hold the scepter of the three kingdoms, 
Christian II, succeeded through the help of his uncle, Frederick 
the Wise of Saxony, in negotiating a marriage with the mighty 
house of Hapsburg. His queen, Elizabeth (Isabella) of Bur- 
gundy, whom he married on August 12, 1514, was a sister of the 
Archduke Charles, who ascended the imperial throne in 1519 
as the Emperor Charles the Fifth. The king continued the 
fight which he had begun while prince, with Liibeck and the 
other Hanseatic cities, in his attempt to make Copenhagen a 
staple city for the Baltic trade. After the suppression of a 
Swedish uprising (1520) marked by the bloody "massacre of 
Stockholm," the king called certain Danish and Swedish mer- 
chants into a conference at Stockholm with the idea of estab- 
lishing a great northern commercial company with Copenhagen 
and Stockholm as the leading centers. It was planned to have 
smaller distributing centers in Finland and the Netherlands, 
after the fashion of the Hanseatic League, which it was Chris- 
tian's design to crush. The king was even intending to send one 
of his captains, Soren (or Severin) Norby, to Greenland and 
"India" (^. e., America) in search of a direct passage,"^ but be- 
fore he could bring his plans to fruition, Gustav Eriksson had 
led the uprising in Sweden which resulted in the breakup of the 
Union of Kalmar and the accession of the rebel leader in 1523 as 
King of Sweden under the title of Gustavus I {Vasa). In the 
general crash Christian lost his throne, and plans for American 
exploration were not seriously considered until nearly a century 
later. 

Meanwhile the feeling of nationality was gradually develop- 
ing in Denmark. During the reign of Christian II the humanis- 
tic movement had already gained considerable headway. The 

"^ Danmarks Riges Hisiorie (Kobenhavn, 1897-1907, 6 v.), Ill (a), 133 (cited 
hereafter as D. R. H.). 

2" D. R. H., Ill (a), 192. 246. 



INTRODUCTION 15 

university of Copenhagen (founded 1479) was reorganized in 
accordance with the new ideas . The introduction of the printing 
press into Denmark make possible the rapid spread of new 
ideas. The printing of the rimed chronicle of the Danish 
kings, den danske Rimkronike, in 1495,^® of Saxo's history and 
the like, stimulated national pride. In his triumphal visit to the 
Netherlands in July, 1521, the king had come in contact with 
Dutch culture, had met leading Dutch thinkers and workers, 
and in conversation with Erasmus of Rotterdam had shown a 
certain sympathy for Luther.-^ Christian Pedersen, a close 
personal friend of the king, became a leader in the humanistic 
movement and an exponent of Lutheranism. A history of 
Denmark from earliest times to 1474, when Christian I visited 
Rome, was partly finished by Pedersen, but was not printed un- 
til our own time. Its pages show that through this period of re- 
adjustment to new conditions, Denmark, or Denmark-Norway, 
as the state was properly called after Sweden achieved its in- 
dependence, was becoming conscious of itself. Of this new 
feeling of solidarity, of national consciousness, the Lutheran 
reformation was at once a phase and a symbol. 

The sixteenth century in Denmark-Norway was nevertheless 
an age of economic decline. That state had indeed gained com- 
plete control of the entrance to the Baltic, but its energies were 
spent in internal disorders, in feuds between the nobles, and in 
powerful peasant uprisings. This decline is strikingly shown in a 
negative way by the fact that the number of Netherlands ships 
that passed through the Sound increased from five hundred and 
forty-three in 1528 to two thousand eight hundred and ninety- 
two in 1563. But as long as Denmark retained control of the 
Sound it was a power to be reckoned with. In the reign of 
Frederick II (1559-1588), when Spain and England were pre- 
paring for their great naval duel, the Spanish ambassador to 
Sweden actually suggested to Philip II that he direct an attack 
against Elsinore and Helsingborg, in order to wrest the Baltic 

2® This was the first printed Danish book, and came from the press of Gotfred 
of Ghemen, a Dutchman, who established the first printing shop in Denmark. 
D. R. E.. Ill (a), 224. 

2? Ibid. 



16 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

trade from the English and the Dutch. ^^ Denmark's position in 
the North makes it possible to understand how Frederick II 
could venture to join the ranks of Queen Elizabeth's suitors, and 
how James VI of Scotland should be led there to seek his 
bride. 

By the time the young king, Christian IV, came of age,^^ 
Denmark was recovering from the turbulent fever of the Ref- 
ormation. Its resources were not strong enough, however, to 
enable it to take part with the Dutch and the English in break- 
ing the monopoly of the Portuguese and Spanish in the Far 
East. Denmark was destined to play but a secondary part in 
the history of those regions, but the fact that it was able to 
play a part at all was due very largely to the vigorous policy of 
Christian IV and his advisers, who knew how to make the most 
of the growing feeling of nationality in the Danish-Norwegian 
state. To be sure, the state still lacked in large measure two 
essentials for successful trade; the right kind of men, and plenty 
of money. This deficiency Christian IV hoped to supply from 
the Protestant Netherlands, which in the beginning of his 
reign, were still engaged in the struggle for their independence 
from Spain. As early as 1607 he sent a capable envoy, Jonas 
Charisius, to Amsterdam to encourage Dutchmen, artisans as 
well as capitalists, to come to Denmark to live.^° Despite their 
war with Spain, the Dutch did not flock to Denmark in very 
great numbers, but enough came to affect profoundly the 
commercial development of the country, as will presently 
appear. 

The king's keen interest in exploration and the development 
of trade led to the sending of three expeditions to Greenland in 
1605, 1606, and 1607.^^^ The first two succeeded in landing on 
the west coast, but failed to find any trace of the lost colonies, 

28 D. R. E., Ill (b), 222. 

2' Christian IV was bom in 1577, was proclaimed king under a council of 
regency on the death of his father in 1588, and assumed the government in 
his own name in 1596. 

^^ In 1521, Christian II had given over the little island of Amager near Copen- 
hagen to 184 Dutch families who were brought in to encourage gardening. 
D. R. H.. Ill (a). 245. 

" C. C. A. Gosch, Danish Arctic Expeditions, I (Hakluyt Soc). 



INTRODUCTION 17 

which was part of their errand. These colonies had been planted 
in the Viking Age,^^ but Denmark had had no communication 
with them since the Black Death in the fourteenth century. 
It was the King's desire to reestablish the dominion of the 
Danish-Norwegian crown over these regions. In 1619 the 
search for the northwest passage to India, which had been 
proposed in the reign of Christian II, was actually attempted by 
the famous Jens Munk, whose Navigationes septentrionales has 
become one of the classics of North Atlantic exploration. Jens 
Munk had been suggested as captain of that fleet which the 
newly organized Danish East India Company sent out from 
Copenhagen on November 29, 1618, to sail around the Cape of 
Good Hope for the East Indies; but he seems to have been 
unable to come to terms with the company, in the establishment 
of which he had been interested. Instead he_ ventured out from 
the Danish capital on May 9, 1619, with two ships, the Unicorn 
with a crew of forty-eight and the Lamprey with sixteen men. 
After passing through the Hudson Strait, they sailed south- 
westward over Hudson's Bay, waters that had been crossed so 
far as is known only by the discoverer Henry Hudson, by Cap- 
tain Thomas Button in 1612-1613, and possibly by Hawkridge 
in 1617. They wintered at the mouth of the Churchill River 
and after fearful sufferings from cold and scurvy, the captain 
and two other survivors arrived on the Norway coast in the 
Unicorn on September 21, 1620.^^ After so severe a disappoint- 
ment, the expedition that had been planned for the following 
year was given up. 

The most lasting contribution of Christian IV to overseas 
commerce was the chartering of the Danish East India Com- 
pany in 1616. The prime movers, besides Jens Munk, were 
two Dutchmen, John de Willom of Amsterdam and Herman 
Rosencrantz of Rotterdam. The fact that the Danish factory 
at Tranquebar in India was kept alive at all during the early 
years of the company was due, more than to any other cause, to 
the skill and perseverance of the second governor, Roland 
Crappe, a Dutchman by birth, who directed the factory from 

^^ Erik the Red discovered and settled Greenland in 985. 
^' C. C. A. Gosch, Danish Arctic Explorations, II. 



18 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

1621 to 1636.^^ In organizing this company the Danes were 
following closely in the footsteps of the Dutch, whose great 
company had already scored some conspicuous successes. So 
long as states did not possess navies strong or numerous enough 
to patrol distant as well as home waters, the plan employed to 
secure reasonable safety for trading vessels was for merchants 
to band themselves together in joint-stock companies under 
liberal charters from the crown and then send out, when neces- 
sary, whole merchant fleets, properly armed, to Muscovy or 
Turkey, to India or Cathay. These companies became the 
instruments by which states fought each other openly or by 
intrigue for the control of the foreign trade of alien lands. The 
custom of issuing letters of marque and reprisal had become 
prevalent in the wars of the sixteenth century. Privately owned 
vessels were thereby permitted to make seizures of enemies' 
ships. Hence trade by means of single private vessels became 
exceedingly unsafe. 

Danish merchants organized other companies for trade nearer 
home. A company organized in 1619 secured a monopoly of the 
trade with Iceland.^^ The salt and wine trade with Spain and 
France had suffered so severely from captures and lack of 
capital that the king, again taking his cue from the Dutch, 
decided to have the trade carried on by a large number of com- 
panies with seats to be located in the various cities of the king- 
dom, that should serve as distributing centers. It was hoped to 
produce a merchant fleet that would be of service in defence, but 
the plan failed, and with its failure the whole scheme of govern- 
mentally encouraged commercial companies received a serious 
setback.^® 

It is interesting to note that in this period of commercial 
activity, in which the king plays a leading part, we hear for the 
first time of proposals for a Danish West India Company. They 
come as one might expect, from a Dutchman, in fact from that 
John de Willom who had helped in the organization of the East 
India Company. On January 25, 1625, he received permission 

8« K. Larsen, I, 14 et seq., 170. 
»s D. R. E., IV, 104. 
36 Jhid., 105, 109. 



INTRODUCTION 19 

to establish a company which should have for a term of eight years 
the privilege of trade with the West Indies, Brazil, Virginia, and 
Guinea.^'' Nothing is known to have come of the venture. 

The extent of Christian IV's commercial plans is strikingly 
illustrated by his foundation of cities. In 1616 he had begun the 
building of Gliickstadt, on the Elbe, with the intention of making 
it a rival of Hamburg, In 1624 he compelled the inhabitants of 
Oslo in Norway to move into the newly planned city of Chris- 
tiania, named in the king's honor, a city that was to become a 
rival to Bergen, which had lost its Hanseatic privileges in 
1559.^® But just as conditions appeared to favor the rapid 
development of Danish commerce in new fields. Christian de- 
cided to take a hand in settling the religious strife in Germany. 
The intervention of the king as champion of the German prot- 
estant princes and head of the Lower Saxon Circle of the Em- 
pire came to an inglorious end (peace of Liibeck, May 22, 1629) 
and reacted unfavorably upon commercial conditions in the 
kingdom. The East India Company was reorganized in 1634 
and a Greenland company formed in 1636, but the results seem 
to have been exceedingly meager. ^^ 

Peace with her neighbors, particularly with Sweden and the 
Netherlands, was the chief condition on which the prosperity of 
Denmark-Norway rested. Her selfish policy with regard to the 
navigation of the Sound drove the Netherlands into an alliance 
with Sweden (1640) which was to last for fifteen years. At the 
instance of Axel Oxenstierna, Sweden declared war against 
Denmark in 1643. As a result of aid extended by Dutch ships 
and the threat of Dutch intervention in Sweden's behalf, Den- 
mark was forced in 1645 to conclude a peace at Bromsebro in 

^^ De Willom had in 1616 with the assistance of Jens Munk organized a com- 
pany to imdertake whale fishing on the Greenland coast; in 1623 he had taken 
over the royal silk weaving factory in Copenhagen from the king. He is buried 
in the cemetery of Nicolaj church, Copenhagen. D. R. H., IV, 104. V. Chris- 
tensen, HistorisJce Meddeleser om Kjobenhavn, II, 420. 

38 D. R. H., IV, 97, 98. 

'' Two ships were sent out to Greenland in 1636, and mention is made by 
Thaarup of "an unfortunate voyage undertaken by Commander Kirk Albertz 
in the year 1639." Vejledning til det danske monarchies Statistik (Kjobenhavn, 
1794). II, 365. 



20 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

which she made important concessions concerning the Sound 
duties. This was the beginning of Denmark's actual decline as 
a Baltic power. 

Immediately on the accession of Charles X as king of Sweden 
in 1654 began that series of wars which involved Sweden in 
struggles with Poland, Brandenburg, the Empire, Russia, and 
Denmark, and which finally ended, so far as the last named state 
was concerned, in her humiliation by the peace of Copenhagen 
(1660) . Denmark lost the three southern provinces of the Swed- 
ish peninsula, Scania, Hailing, and Bleking, as well as her lord- 
ship over the Sound. In this strenuous period, when the Danes 
were fighting for their very existence as a nation, they had no 
means or energy to devote to commerce with distant lands. 
During the lull between the two Swedish wars, however, Henry 
Miiller, chief of the Copenhagen customs house and a man of 
extensive manufacturing and trading interests, sent expeditions 
to Greenland in 1652 and 1653.*° In the later year Frederick III 
granted privileges to certain "participants" to engage in West 
Indian trade. It was a grant, as the royal letter reads, "to our 
subjects who have already sailed to the Caribbean islands in the 
West Indies in a recent year, and who now desire with such 
other shareholders as may join them to sail again to these 
islands." The privileges had mainly to do with Sound and 
harbor dues and had nothing to say of occupation of any terri- 
tory.'*^ The results were at first exceedingly meager. It appears 
that in 1654, the year that Charles X began his martial career, 
eleven ship owners from Elsinore ventured to send a single 
ship to the West Indies.*^ 

Though the beginnings were small and early efforts timid, the 
possibilities of the Guinea- West Indies trade loomed large. It 

^^ No further expeditions appear to have visited Greenland until Hans Egede 
went there to establish his famous mission in 1721. Thaarup, 365. The Dutch 
had organized a Greenland company as early as 1614, but apparently made no 
attempt at settlement. Bergsoe, Den danske Stats Sfatistik, IV, 507. 

" No. 73, Sjcell. aabne Breve, Apr. 29, 1662 {lndl<Bg). 

*^ Mads Mortensen, Joh. Hansen, Lambert Ebbesen, Jac. Albertsen, Isbrandt 
V. Hoi ten, Hans Jensen, Joan Wilders, and Hans Hansen, Herm. Voogt, 
Berendt Willumsen, and Jan Hein. No. 73, SjcbU. aabne Breve, Apr. 29, 1662 
{Indlae g. Mar. 5, 1653). 



INTRODUCTION 21 

was not long before the scene of Danish-Swedish rivalry was 
shifted from the Baltic Sea to the coast of Guinea in Western 
Africa. Just as the Portuguese monopoly in the East Indies 
gradually crumbled before the onslaughts of skippers with 
letters of marque and reprisal, and of companies with royal 
charters sailing under the Dutch, English, French, or Danish 
flag, so had the Portuguese monopoly of the African slave trade 
been broken into, first by the English, of whom John Hawkins 
stands as a type, and later by Dutch, French, and Courlanders, 
and in 1614 by the Swedes. Negro slaves were in chief demand 
among the Spanish planters on the mainland of America and the 
larger islands, where the use of native labor had threatened the 
extermination of the Indians and the Caribs. The Swedes had 
built their Guinea factory in the neighborhood of Cabo Corso or 
Cape Coast, where they seem to have displaced the Portuguese. ^^ 
During the war of 1657-1658 with Denmark, the Swedish factor, 
one Henry Carloff, turned traitor and went into the Danish 
service as a privateer, and captured the chief factory, called 
Carolusberg. Although forced to give up this place, the Danes 
secured other places near at hand where they built the forts of 
Fredericksborg and Christiansborg. An African company with 
headquarters at Gluckstadt appears to have been established 
without delay (1659), though the extent of its activities is not 
yet known. There was some trading by private Danish adven- 
turers who took cargoes of slaves from Guinea to the Spanish 
American colonies early in Frederick Ill's reign. *^ 

In the realm of political history the most important event 
in Frederick's time (1648-1670) was the establishment of the 
absolute monarchy, probably the most thoroughgoing abso- 
lutism that Europe has ever seen. Recent events had demon- 
strated the necessity for unified and efficient action, and cer- 

« Lucas, III, 67. 

*^ On 17 Nov., 1653, Jens Lassen, a treasury clerk and merchant, with certain 
associates, petitioned Philip IV for permission to carry on a trade with Spanish 
America in Guinea slaves. The Spanish ambassador in Copenhagen, the Count 
of Rebolledo, had favored the grant on the ground that if the king refused, the 
trade would no doubt still take place. He reported that all the northern lands 
traded with the Spanish colonies. E. Gigas, Grev Bernardino de Rebolledo . , . 
(Kjobenhavn, 1883), pp. 181, 377. 



22 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

tainly it is difficult to imagine a more "efficient" government 
than an absolute monarchy under a capable despot. Since it 
was not until this reorganization of government had taken place 
that the state assumed a leading and consistent part in en- 
couraging commerce and industry, a brief summary of what 
happened in 1660 will be appropriate. 

There was felt a crying need, especially by the peasantry, 
for a new order, and the nobility was held mainly responsible for 
existing oppressive conditions. It was in fact chiefly upon the 
peasants and burghers, assisted to some extent by the clergy, 
that the king depended in putting through his coup d'etat. For 
government by the king and estates, was substituted govern- 
ment by the king alone, who delegated a large part of his work to 
colleges or boards appointed by himself. Some of these as the 
Privy Council (Rigsraadet), a remnant of the old order, the 
Council of State (Statskollegiet), and the Board of Trade (Kom- 
merce-kollegiet), were advisory; others, as the Danish and Ger- 
man chanceries and the treasury board (SJcatkammerkollegiet) , 
were administrative. The supreme court which had hitherto 
been filled entirely by the nobility, now came under the Danish 
chancery. The chancellor became its president, and trained 
burghers were given seats in it. Besides these institutions, 
which were modffied as conditions changed and circumstances 
demanded it, special commissions were at one time or another 
appointed to investigate special subjects; sometimes the king 
would issue acts or ordinances under his own hand, and some- 
times one or another board would prepare an act which would 
be issued from the royal chamber or cabinet. ^'^ It was this con- 
centration of power in the royal hands that made possible a 
concentration of effort in matters of trade. About the time 
when Danish and Norwegian merchants were beginning to 
think seriously of securing the establishment of a chartered 
company for trade with America (i. e., the West Indies), or of 
making some arrangement with the French who were preparing 

« Meddelelserfra Arkivet, 1SS6-S8, 65 et seq. D. R. H., IV, 470 ef seq. "Cab- 
inet Orders" play an important part during the Guldberg period (1772-1784) 
when much of the government was carried on through orders made out by 
advisers and signed by the king. 



INTRODUCTION 23 

under Colbert's direction to reorganize their West India Com- 
pany, that the Board of Trade was established (1668) as a de- 
partment of the Danish government, with the Dutchman Simon 
Petkum as its first president.^® 

The question naturally arises. What was the actual situation 
in Europe and the West Indies with which this new-fledged 
absolutism would be called upon to cope before it could success- 
fully launch a colonizing and commercial company for New 
World exploitation? The sudden death of Charles X in 1660 
had lessened the immediate danger from the Swedish quarter. 
The accession of Charles II to the throne of the restored mon- 
archy in England could not but be viewed hopefully in Denmark, 
which state had all but openly assisted the Netherlands against 
England in the first Anglo-Dutch war (1652-1654). Denmark's 
position in the second Anglo-Dutch war (1665-1667) was still 
more difficult.^^ The Dutch, by virtue of alliances with both 
powers, were straining every effort to secure the assistance, 
active or passive, of France and Denmark, while Charles II was 
laboring to draw Frederick away from the Dutch alliance. Al- 
though forced to resist the Dutch, Louis XIV succeeded through 
a combination of circumstances in thwarting Charles' Danish 
plans. Frederick III made a show of remaining neutral, but he 
succeeded in saving the Dutch East India fleet in Bergen harbor 
from English captors. ^^ 

Events in Europe reacted on conditions in the West Indies. 
Jamaica had been seized in 1655 by the Penn-Venables expedi- 
tion sent to American waters to make reprisals against the 
Spaniards. In 1660 the English, French, and Caribs signed a 
peace at Guadaloupe by which the Indians should be allowed 
undisturbed occupation of the two Leeward Islands of St. 
Vincent and Dominica, provided they kept the peace else- 
where.'*^ During the second Anglo-Dutch war, the French had 

« D. R. H., IV, 490; Meddelelser fra ArUvet, 1886-1888, p. 106. 

'^ One of the immediate causes of this war was the rivalry between Dutch 
and English traders on the Guinea Coast. 

*^ Schoolcraft, " Anglo-Danish Relations, 1660-67," in The English Historical 
Review, vol. 25, p. 479. 

« Lucas, 11, 57. 



^4 tHE DANISH WEST INDIES 

seized the English part of St. Kitts, Antigua and Montserrat in 
1667, only to give them back by the treaty of Breda in the same 
year. The English in their turn had seized Surinam in South 
America from the Dutch, but returned it in 1674 on the final 
cession to England of New Amsterdam. 

In Europe, the ambitions of Louis XIV were presently to 
change the general aspect of affairs. The treaties of Breda were 
followed by the Triple Alliance between England, the Nether- 
lands and Sweden (1668). This alliance Louis immediately set 
about to break; only by isolating the Netherlands could he 
hope to carry out his plans on the Continent. He was aided in 
this by the circumstance that Charles II had scarcely any more 
liking for the Dutch than Louis, and was quite inclined to lend 
his aid to any scheme that promised to cripple or destroy the 
United Netherlands. The secret treaty of Dover by which 
Charles pledged his aid to Louis in the event of a war with the 
Dutch was signed June 1, 1670. Under these circumstances an 
alliance between England and Denmark would weaken the 
Dutch and hence should add to the joy of France. And so it 
happened that not later than June 21, 1670, Arthur Capel, first 
Earl of Essex, left England for Copenhagen as ambassador ex- 
traordinary to conclude a treaty of alliance with the new Danish 
king, Christian V,^" 

Denmark's interest in the West Indies was only secondary, 
and was based upon the interest aroused in her merchants as a 
result of recent voyages which will be considered later. What 
English as well as French diplomacj?^ played upon in Den- 
mark was fear of Sweden and a feeling that the Dutch had long 
treated them insolently in the Sound disputes and would be 
"ever ready and resolute in defence of Hamburg, whenever the 
Danes should have strength enough to attack it; " for Hamburg, 
as Sir William Temple expressed it, was their "chief ambition 
abroad, it seems." ^^ 

In Europe England's wars with the Dutch had materially 

so Cal. Dom., 1670 and Add., 1660-1670, pp. 165, 378; Cal. Treas.. 1669-1672, 
V. 3, pt. 1 (Nov. 10, 1670). The refusal of Essex to strike his flag on entering 
Danish waters created considerable stir in England. 

"Sir W. Temple, Works, II, 217 (London, 1814, 4 v.). 



INTRODUCTION 25 

enhanced her sea power, while in the West Indies her ability 
to hold Jamaica against Spanish attempts at reconquest had 
made her a serious rival of France as a West Indian power. If 
Denmark hoped to secure any lesser islands as footholds from 
which to carry on trade with Porto Rico or other of the larger 
Spanish islands, an understanding with England was imperative, 
for while the French had their buccaneering colonies on San 
Domingo and Tortuga, and some small Leeward colonies to the 
north, French ships of war were mainly concentrated near the 
fertile islands of Guadaloupe and Martinique, the southernmost 
of the Leeward group. 

But although Spain had lost Jamaica, she yet remained the 
leading colonial power in the West Indies and on the neighboring 
mainland. The destruction of the Armada in 1588 had lost 
Spain her naval prestige, and had left her commerce and her 
colonies all but helpless at the hands of all sorts of searovers, — 
privateers, buccaneers, pirates, or by whatever name they might 
be called. These men were gathered from many nations; their 
common enemy was Spain and their common aim was plunder; 
while French, English, and Dutch authorities in the West 
Indies winked at their depredations, when they did not actually 
encourage them. Not infrequently did the Spaniards send out 
punitive expeditions that wreaked terrible vengeance for ills 
previously suffered, by capturing or dispersing many a young 
colony which ventured to settle in their proximity. 

A secret article to the treaty of Vervins arranged between 
France and Spain in 1598 had expressly provided that the peace 
should not hold good in regions west of the longitude of the 
Azores and south of the tropic of Cancer. French and Spanish 
ships meeting each other beyond these lines, "les lignes de 
I'enclos des amities," might make lawful prize of one another 
as in time of war.^^ With the Dutch, lawlessness had often 
enough been possible without a treaty, though they had secured 
the recognition by the Spaniards of their independence in the 
Treaty of Mlinster in 1648. The first state to negotiate a treaty 
with Spain that would actually prepare the way for order in 
West Indian regions was England, whose buccaneers and log- 
^^ Haring, Buccaneers in the West Indies, 48. 



26 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

wood cutters were threatening to extend the English frontier 
from Jamaica to the Spanish Main in the logwood district about 
Campeachy and Honduras Bay.^^ 

The time had come for Spain to admit by treaty what was 
already an established fact; that she no longer held a monopoly 
over the Caribbean Islands. So while Essex was negotiating in 
Copenhagen, Sir William Godolphin had been received in 
Spain, where on April 18, 1670, he secured from Charles II of 
Spain the Treaty of Madrid, "composing differences, restraining 
depredations, and establishing peace" in America. For the 
first time, Spain definitely recognized England's right to possess 
undisturbed the American islands and colonies which she 
actually occupied, although the Pacific was to remain, as hereto- 
fore, strictly a closed sea.^^ Before the news of the treaty could 
be published in the English and Spanish colonies, the arch- 
buccaneer, Henry Morgan, most notorious of his tribe, had led 
an expedition which had sacked the two isthmian cities of Porto 
Bello and Panama. The subsequent knighting of Morgan by 
the king and his appointment as lieutenant-governor of Jamaica 
were hardly calculated to inspire confidence in England's inten- 
tions to bring about peace in Caribbean waters. And yet, as we 
shall see, an honest attempt was made in that direction in which 
Sir Henry Morgan figured as the faithful representative of law 
and order. 

Though the treaty was far from instantaneous in its effects, it 
furnished a basis for mutual relations and strengthened Eng- 
land's position in the West Indies to the extent that she was 

** An expedition from Jamaica had attacked the Castle of Santa Cruz on the 
Campeachy coast in February, 1663. Logwood cutting on the coast of Cam- 
peachy, Honduras and Yucatan had begun among the English about 1665. 
Haring, Btiecaneers, 107, 208. 

An interesting episode that forms a connecting link between the Elizabethan 
struggle with Spain and the English conquest of Jamaica is the Puritan coloniza- 
tion scheme of 1629-1640, when the Pro\adence Company held the islands of 
Providence (Santa Catalina), Henrietta (San Andreas), and Association (Tor- 
tuga) until they were seized by the Spaniards. A detailed account is to be foimd 
in A. P. Newton's The Colonizing Activities of the Early Puritatts (New Haven, 
1914). 

" Haring, op. cit , 197. 



INTRODUCTION 27 

able actually to bring about peace by "composing differences" 
and "restraining depredations." Denmark's position could not 
but be improved by her being an ally of the power that had been 
able to humble the Dutch sea power and to score a diplomatic 
victory over his Most Catholic Majesty. 

A word remains to be said concerning the position of Denmark 
with respect to France whose king persisted in treating the 
states of Europe as pawns on the diplomatic chess board. The 
immediate aim of Louis XIV, as already indicated, was to check 
the United Netherlands and if possible wipe them off the board. 
England had been brought within his schemes by the Treaty of 
Dover. It remained to detach Sweden from her alliance with 
the Dutch, after which he would be ready to throw off the cloak 
of diplomacy and disclose the iron fist. Meantime Colbert, 
Louis' great minister of finance, was quite willing to make use of 
Denmark to help destroy Dutch commerce in the Baltic, and to 
promote that of the French; but he was unwilling to go as far in 
the matter of reciprocal trade privileges in Danish and French 
ports as the gentlemen who were engaged in 1668 in organizing 
the Company of the North. ^^ The proposal of these French 
merchants was considered by the Board of Trade, a body created 
at this time apparently for the very purpose of giving proper 
consideration to the French suggestions. But the president of 
this board was a Dutchman named Simon Petkum, who pro- 
fessed to see small prospects in this French trade. Private 
Danish traders had already visited the French West Indian 
islands. An attempt had been made in fact to occupy St. 
Thomas, and hence a counter proposal of the Board of Trade 
must have been made with the previous experience in mind and 
in the hope of increasing this trade. The Board proposed that 
the Danes send annually to the French colonies of St. Christo- 
pher and Martinique such goods as were needed and at a reason- 

^^ The Danish ambassador at Paris, Frederick Gabel, had reported that " the 
French trade was so managed that in time it would center entirely in France 
and that a foreign state would hardly go into a partnership with it unless it 
received very considerable advantages [referring to French subsidies]." Gabel's 
Relation, October 5, 1668 (N. S.), and October 19 (quoted in K. Fabricius, 
" Colbert og Danmark," 9). 



28 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

able price on condition of Denmark's receiving certain staple 
rights in France, e. g., in La Rochelle and Nantes. 

But Colbert's idea was protection, not reciprocity. He had no 
desire to encourage the establishment of a Danish West India 
company that might become an active competitor with the Com- 
pany of the North, so he turned the negotiations to the subject 
of Dansborg, the Danish factory on the Malabar coast of India, 
which he attempted in vain to buy for France. In these futile 
negotiations the idea of cooperating for the pursuit of West 
Indian trade was lost sight of, and Danish merchants were left 
to form their own company.^® 

Of the expeditions which were sent to the West Indies by 
private Danish adventurers previous to the cowp d'etat of 1660, 
mention has already been made. It remains to consider those 
expeditions which took place after the disastrous war with 
Sweden, and which led eventually to the choice of St. Thomas as 
the site of Denmark's first West Indian colony. A memorial 
dated February 15, 1662, and hitherto unpublished, epitomizes 
the state of Danish trade in the West Indies during the troublous 
years that had just passed. " We have to thank Your Majesty, " 
runs the memorial, "most graciously and humbly for the priv- 
ileges [to trade] upon the Caribbean islands, which were granted 
to us several years ago, although by God's will ^" we suffered 
great losses on the journeys undertaken during those times, in- 
asmuch as Cromwell and those ruling with him took away from 
us two ships with cargoes, worth over 32,000 rdl. And besides, 
one of our ships with full cargo and twenty-two persons was 
swept away from the land by God's weather, by the wind called 
hurricane, on the 11th day of August, 1657, and never has there 
been heard of ship or men since; so that we have suffered a very 
great loss during the two years. Since that time we have been 
unable to continue our voyages thence, both for the reasons 
given and because of the dangers due to the present wars. . . . 
Meantime our former privileges have expired, and we have 
again undertaken in the liord's name to have our former skipper, 

^^ Knud Fabricius, " Colbert og Danmark . . ." {Historisk Tidsskrift, 8 R., 
IV. Till.). 

^' Gud bedred disverr. 



INTRODUCTION 29 

Erik Nielsen Schmidt, navigate these islands in the good hope 
that God Almighty will grant us some share of the good things of 
the land by way of restitution for our former losses. We pray 
Your Majesty to renew the grant of our former privileges for 
another term of years." Hans Nansen, Schmidt, and three 
others ^^ signed their names to the petition which was granted ^^ 
substantially in the form asked, for "the present year" only. 

The Hans Nansen who signed this petition appears to have 
been the son of the wealthy burgher and Iceland merchant of the 
same name. After attendance in a Copenhagen "Latin school" 
he had been sent to Danzig in 1652 to learn bookkeeping, and 
went thereafter on business missions to Prussia, the United 
Netherlands, and Iceland. In 1655 he was the "winter mer- 
chant" of the Iceland-Fsero company; in the winters of 1656- 
1657 he was in Amsterdam learning seamanship and nautical 
mathematics. In the summer of 1657 he was made merchant 
in Iceland for the new company; the year following he was in 
Gliickstadt and Hamburg. During the last Swedish war, being 
unable to return to Copenhagen, he was in business for his 
associates and himself in Hamburg, Gliickstadt and Iceland. 
He was certainly one of the organizers of the West India Com- 
pany in 1671, and may be taken as a type of the shrewd, ad- 
venturous entrepreneurs of the age of the commercial com- 
panies. 

The skipper, Erik Nielsen Schmidt, was evidently selected for 
his knowledge of West Indian waters and conditions. How 
many previous voyages their "former skipper" may have made, 
it is impossible to say, but he is certainly found on February 25, 
1663, passing through the Sound with a cargo of tobacco, ginger, 
etc., from the West Indies; ^^ he is referred to in a contract dated 
June 8, 1665, at Copenhagen as royal commandant and governor 
of the island of St. Thomas.**^ On July 1 he passed Elsinore with 

^8 No. 73, Sjaell. aabne Breve, April 29, 1662 {Indlmg). Find Nielsen, Chris- 
tofifer Hanse, and Jorgen Hansen Raffn. Schmidt's name appears as Erich 
Nielsen Schmit in the document, and is signed Erich Nielsen Smit. 

^^ It was granted on April 29, 1662, udi ncervcerende Aar. 

^° Oresundstoldregnskabet for 1663. 

'' In Kirkehist, Saml., 5 R. II B., pp. 293 et seq. E, V. Lose quotes in extenso 
the contract entered into between Schmidt and Kield Jensen Slagelse, the 



30 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

a cargo of provisions bound for the West Indies.®^ Early in 1666 
(February 15) he sent a small cargo containing three hundred 
"rolls" of tobacco and one and one-half hhds. of sugar to Co- 
penhagen.^^ Not long thereafter, in the same year, he died at 
St. Thomas. The Lutheran minister, Kjeld Jensen Slagelse, 
seems to have succeeded him and to have returned to Denmark 
with the remaining colonists. The last ship from the West 
Indies recorded as passing through the Sound before the or- 
ganization of the Company in 1671, and probably the one by 
which the St. Thomas colonists came, sailed into Copenhagen 
harbor on August 30, 1666, under Holger Freder's command. 
The cargo contained 50,000 lbs. of pockwood, 20,000 lbs. of 
sugar, and 70,000 lbs. of tobacco,^^ which may partly have been 
bought on French or English islands. 

Such then, in its main features, was that long train of cir- 
cumstances that had attracted the interest of kings and sub- 
jects of Denmark-Norway to the western world, and particu- 
larly to those parts adjacent to the Spanish Main. The success 
of those trading vessels that had returned with fair cargoes from' 
successful ventures in those distant tropical waters had at least 
served to whet the appetites of Danish-Norwegian merchants 
and skippers. They began to hope that by following the course 
laid out by other western European states, notably the Dutch 
and the English, they, too, might secure some share in that 
commerce of which Spain was finding it increasingly difiicult to 
keep a monopoly. It remains to explain how Danish mer- 
chants were able through a royally chartered commercial com- 
pany to gain for the state a permanent foothold in those regions. 

Lutheran minister who was to accompany him. A copy of the same is to be 
found in the Bancroft Collection, but the date given is 1655. 

^- Oresundstoldregnskabet for 1655. 

" im. for 1666. 

" Ihid. for 1666. 



CHAPTER I 

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMPANY 

By 1671, circumstances were more favorable to the establish- 
ment of a Danish West India Company with broad powers and 
considerable latitude of action than at any previous time. The 
several expeditions already described gave sufficient encourage- 
ment to suggest a more ambitious plan for getting into the field 
of Caribbean commerce. An unoccupied island with an excel- 
lent harbor had been found, the peaceful occupying and retain- 
ing of which had become a more likely possibility as a result 
of recent diplomatic developments in Europe. The newly 
founded Board of Trade took on a new lease of life after the 
accession to the throne of the new king, Christian V, in 1670. 
On September 22 of that year the Board received its first official 
instructions, and presently it was organized with Frederick 
Ulrik Gyldenlove, the illegitimate son of the king, as its president 
and Jens Juel, a statesman and diplomatist and a brother of the 
famous admiral, as vice-president. The remaining members 
included the well-known merchant Hans Nansen, Peter Peterson 
Lerke, the Danish master of the mint, Andrew Timpf who had 
held a similar position in Poland, Gabriel Marselis, a reputable 
Dutch merchant, and as secretary, Melkior Rotlin, formerly 
employed in Bergen as secretary of the Liibeck office.^ To these 
men the king's trusted adviser, Peter Schumacher (created 
Count Griff enf eld and made Chancellor in 1673) lent his en- 
thusiastic support in all matters pertaining to the encourage- 
ment of trade and industry.^ On November 20, 1670, the second 
Danish East India Company was organized and given a charter 
for forty years. On the eleventh day of the following March, 

1 K. Fabricius, Griffenfeld (Kobenhavn, 1910), 160, 166. The contemporary 
spelling of Lerke's name is Lerche. 
\D. R. H., IV. 539. 

{31] 



32 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

the Danish West India Company received its charter from the 
royal hand.^ In America and the Far East Denmark was 
planning to enter into commercial competition with her enter- 
prising neighbors. 

As directors of the West India Company the king named three 
of the members ("assessors" or judges) of the Board of Trade, 
Jens Juel, Peter Lerke, and the burgher, Hans Nansen,* the 
last named on the nomination of Peter Schumacher. 

This charter, like the usual seventeenth century commercial 
company charters, conferred very broad powers upon the com- 
pany. In describing it, reference will be made by way of com- 
parison with an organization estabUshed just the year before, 
the continuous existence of which from that day to this renders 
it unique in the annals of chartered companies, namely, the 
Hudson Bay Company, whose official corporate title was "the 
governor and company of Adventurers of England trading into 
Hudson Bay." The English had no company exactly corre- 
sponding to the Danish company. The Royal African Com- 
pany, founded in 1672, made Guinea the main scene of its 
operations, with the British islands in the West Indies the chief 
market for what soon came to be their principal article of com- 
merce, African slaves. But the Hudson Bay Company was, 
like the Danish, intended for the exploitation of the New World 
and offers at its inception, despite the different nature of its 
sphere of action, some interesting resemblances to its con- 
temporary. 

The charter issued by Christian V authorized the Danish 
West India Company to occupy and take possession of the 
island of St. Thomas "and also such other islands thereabouts or 
near the mainland of America as might be uninhabited and 

' C. P. Lucas, II, 52, III, 67, mistakenly places the incorporation of the 
company in 1734. For the second East India Company, see Kay Larsen, De 
dansk-ostindiske Koloniers Historie (Kobenhavn, 1907), I, 43. 

^ P. Mariager, Historisk Efterretning over de Vestindiske og Guineiske Com- 
pagnies Etablissementer udi Vestindien og Guinea, p. 2. This manuscript work 
by a bookkeeper of the Company is in the Royal Library at Copenhagen and is 
of prime importance. (Cited hereafter as Mariager MS.) 

Hans Nansen was also a judge on the Admiralty Board, and later became, as 
his father had been before him, president of the city of Copenhagen (1688). 



THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMPANY 33 

suitable for plantations, or if inhabited, then by such people 
who have no knowledge concerning us." ^ Like the Hudson Bay 
Company, it was authorized to build forts and lodges and to 
take proper measures for its own defence in case of attack; it ad- 
ministered justice to all in the Company's service or within its 
immediate jurisdiction. Direct appeal to the Supreme Court at 
Copenhagen was permitted by the Danish company; the Eng- 
lish government granted the Hudson Bay Company final juris- 
diction, merely stipulating that all causes should be judged and 
local justice carried out by one of the local governors and his 
council, where such authority was available, "according to the 
laws of this kingdom." ^ 

The Danish king bound himself to issue no "seabriefs" or 
passports to Danish captains navigating the Danish West 
Indies and promised the Company the proceeds of all prizes 
except the usual tenth part which was the perquisite of the 
admiral of the realm. The Hudson Bay Company was origi- 
nally empowered to seize the persons of English or any other 
subjects who sailed into Hudson Bay or were found in the Com- 
pany's territory without its permission. No such amazing 
powers were conferred on the Danish company; and in any case, 
there would have been no opportunity for their exercise. The 
English company like the Danish had government officials on its 
board of directors, but the association of government and com- 
pany was far closer in Denmark than in England because of the 
absolute, thoroughly centralized administration established by 
Frederick III and continued by his son Christian V. The in- 
ternal government of each company was managed by a general 
assembly, or "general court," as the arrangement was called 
in the English charter. The Danes were charged with the re- 
sponsibility of converting the Indians, not a difficult task, as 
only two or three are to be found in the entire period of the 
Company's existence.^ We may judge of the success with which 
this injunction was carried out by the fact that "John Indian," 

* /. e., Indians. 

® Cawston and Keane, The Early Chartered Companies (London, 1896), 
292 et seq. See Appendix C for translation of Danish charter. 
^ Cf. Lucas, II, 138. 



34 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

himself a large fraction of his tribe, finally was punished by the 
loss of a leg for his various attempts at running away.^ 

Besides the three royally appointed directors, two of whom 
were nobles, three were to be elected by the shareholders 
("participants") from among themselves by a majority vote, 
those chosen being required to have a minimum of 2,000 " Slet- 
tedaler" invested in the Company's stock.^ A paragraph (^13) 
the consequences of which the promoters could not have fore- 
seen was that which provided for the upkeep of the population 
of the young colony by the promise of as many of the men 
condemned in the home country to labor in irons or to serve In 
prison as the company might deem necessary for its plantations, 
and as many as they might wish of those women whose dis- 
orderly lives had brought them into arrest in the "spinning 
house" and other places. This was not the first time that 
Europe deliberately planned to empty her jails on American 
soil nor was it to be the last time, but on St. Thomas as in the 
English colonies, the authorities soon learned that convicts 
were not deemed good timber for plantations by the colonial 
officials. Not like the English company, where the owner of 
each block of stock worth £100 was entitled to vote, the Danish 
company gave each shareholder one vote, and only one vote. 
The minimum size of the shares was one hundred rixdoUars. 
The Company received free use of rooms in the Copenhagen 
Stock Exchange, and was provided with suitable pack house 
quarters on "Holmen" near the present site of "Holmens" 
church. The king, the queen, and Prince George, each sus- 
scribed 3,000 Slettedaler, while the total amount of this first 
subscription was 64,300 sldl., which was to be paid in three 

^ Even the negroes did not become the objects of serious missionary effort 
until the arrival of the Moravian missionaries in 1732, and then the impetus 
came from circles entirely outside of the official class. 

" A Slettedaler = 64 Skilling; a rigsdaler (rixdoUar) = 96 Skilling = 6 Mark. 
1 pesos = 8 reals = 96 granos (or 48 stivers). A rixdoUar was about equal to 
a pesos or piece-of-eight, and to four kroner (1 Kr. = $0,275) in present day 
coin. The purchasing value during the Company's career was perhaps two to 
three times that of the present time in Denmark. On money values, see D. R. H., 
IV, 103, note; W. Scharling, Pengenes sjjnkende Vwrdi (Kobenhavn, 1869); 
Arent Berntsen, Danmarh og Norges Frugibar Herlighed. (Kjobenhavn, 1656). 



THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMPANY 35 

equal parts, the first to be available on June 11, 1671, the last 
instalment on March 31, 1673.^" A proposal to require the 
royal assent to the election of directors by the shareholders was 
struck out by Peter Schumacher, who was responsible for the 
arrangement by which two directors instead of six should have 
the full power to attend to the Company's current business. ^'^ 
As a sort of advisory body there was formed a group of those 
who had invested not less then 1,000 rdl., and who were known 
as the chief participants.^^ From this group a committee of four 
was provided for, — two nobles and two burghers, who should 
have the power to inspect the Company's books at any time, 
and who audited the bookkeeper's accounts once in each year. 
The first chief participants appointed were Admiral Kordt 
Adeler and Frederik Poggenberg.^^ The former was by birth a 
Norwegian and had distinguished himself in the Venetian navy 
in the struggle with the Turks. 

Such was the constitution of the Danish West India Company 
whose corporate existence continued, although with a number 
of changes, for eighty-four years. Under this charter and the 
"reglement" which accompanied it, preparations for the settle- 
ment of St. Thomas were begun in the summer of 1671. On 
the nomination of Lerke, the directors selected George Iversen 
as governor of the new colony. The new governor, though a 
man but thirty-three years of age when he received his appoint- 
ment, had led a life full of incident and of the sort of experience 
that served to prepare him for his post.^^ His surname of Dyp- 
pel, the modern Dybbol, testifies to a Schleswig origin, although 
he was himself born in Elsinore, where his father was a baker. 
Not long after his twelfth year, when his schooling was ended, 
he was bound to service and sent to the West Indies by one of 
those privately owned ships referred to above, perhaps by the 



jer MS., 14, 15. 

" Fabricius, Griff enf eld, 169. 

>"See Reglsment of March 11, 1671 (C. P. Rothe, Christian V's Rescripter 
for Norge ... II B.). 

^^ Mariager MS., 15. 

^* This account of Governor George (Jorgen) Iversen's life is based mainly 
on the excellent and exhaustive sketch by Fr. Krarup in the Personalhistorisk 
Tidsskrift, II R. 6 B. (Kobenhavn, 1891). 



36 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

ship that left Elsinore in 1654. It is at any rate certain that he 
entered the service of an English merchant on St. Christopher 
(St. Kitts), and that about 1660 he returned to Europe with a 
Dutch merchant. There he joined a company including three 
business men from Zeeland, of whom one John Basselaer, was the 
leader; Iversen participated in the enterprise, holding one-sixth 
of the capital. He was himself to accompany the ship to the 
West Indies and to take charge of the trade there, of which he 
was to enjoy one-half of the profits. 

All went on smoothly until 1665, when Iversen returned to 
Europe and there learned that war had broken out between 
England and the Netherlands. This information was brought 
in upon him in a way that was not to be mistaken, and he paid 
dearly for his instruction. His ship and cargo were seized 
by an English privateer. The skipper himself went to Copen- 
hagen hoping to obtain restitution through diplomatic channels. 
Admiral Henry Bjelke procured him an audience with Fred- 
erick III. The king not only acceded to Iversen's desire that 
Charles II of England be petitioned to deliver over to the in- 
jured party his share of the damages, estimated at 3,000 rdl., 
but had Iversen come to him three times to tell him concerning 
life in the New World and of his personal experiences there. 
Inasmuch as the Danes appeared to show too much sympathy 
with the Dutch, and particularly since the failure of the Danes 
to cooperate with the English fleet in capturing the Dutch 
East Indiamen in Bergen harbor, Iversen's petition came to 
nothing. Although he kept up his connections with his Zeeland 
partners, he appears to have remained in Denmark during the 
years following. In 1670, the year of the embassy of Essex, he 
was married "in the house," a distinction which indicates a 
fairly high social position, and with other evidences, shows him 
still to have been a man of some means, despite his severe 
loss. 

The newly elected governor invested 1,000 rdl. in the West 
Indian enterprise at the start. He also took charge of fitting 
out two ships provided by the new king. Christian V, for the 
use of the Company. About 20,000 rdl. were expended in the 
outfitting. Captain Arent Henriksen, a Dutch skipper, took 



THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMPANY 37 

the yacht, The Gilded Crown, and set sail on August 30, 1671.^^ 
He was to look over the ground, for it was not entirely certain 
that the English might not have occupied it. On the failure of 
the Fero to arrive within the time expected. Captain Hen- 
riksen returned to Denmark with ship and cargo, only to find 
that the Governor had left on February 26,^^ after having been 
delayed in Bergen since November 20, because of a leaky ship. 
The passenger list of the Fero makes interesting reading. Be- 
sides the crew, which totaled only twelve men, those who had 
bound themselves to service and engaged themselves as em- 
ployees of the Company numbered one hundred and sixteen. 
The remaining sixty-one had been selected, as the charter had 
permitted, from the convicts in Bremerholm and other places. 
Several culprits had escaped at Bergen, but were promptly re- 
placed by others equally unpromising. 

With this motley throng, to manage, an assemblage that was 
to form the nucleus of the new colony. Governor Iversen would 
have abundant opportunity to show of what stuff he was made. 
After leaving Bergen, and especially on the approach to the 
warmer latitudes, the toll of death began to be taken in earnest. 
Eighty-six persons of both sexes died on the journey or had es- 
caped in Bergen. One of the victims was Kjeld Jensen Slagelse, 
the minister, who had accompanied Erik Schmidt on his voyage 
in 1665. 

The ship, with a cargo valued at 18,172 sldl. arrived in St, 
Thomas harbor on May 25, 1672,^^ just three months after its 
departure from Bergen. The pioneer band went ashore on the 
following morning, raised the Danish flag, and took formal 
possession. They found an island that seemed to them, as the 
governor expressed it, well suited and large enough for their 
purposes. No one was there to dispute ownership, the English 
who had occupied it, having left six or seven weeks earlier, after 
burning off the roof of the storehouse. ^^ The land had to be 
cleared of bush and forest before it could be planted; pockwood 

" Manager MS., 15, 

'^ Manager MS. has it February 29 (p. 16). 

" Mariager MS., 16. 18. 

18 im.. 18. 



38 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

was sufficiently in demand in Denmark to furnish a profitable 
ballast for returning ships during the earlier years of the colony. 
The problem of securing cane for the newly cleared patches of 
plantation ground was solved by the aid of the English, who had 
recently seized Tor tola, a little island just northwest of St. 
John, from the Dutch. The English officer ^^ in charge there 
generously gave the Danes full permission to use anything they 
found on the island, and they made no find more precious than 
the shoots of sugar cane. 

The new masters had scarcely begun settlement, before 
colonists of various sorts began to seep in. The greater number 
of them belonged to the Dutch nation, and were seeking the 
protection of a state that they supposed to be on friendly terms 
with the English, who were harrying the Dutch wherever they 
dared. Some of these, as John von Beverhoudt, became plant- 
ers of distinction and even founded influential families; others, 
like Carl Baggaert, an absconder from Middelburg, became 
trouble makers who soured the life of the governor and those in 
authority with him. Although French, Germans, English, and 
Jews were among these early settlers, Dutch became the pre- 
vailing language from the beginning. 

To keep such a variously confused assemblage in reasonable 
restraint while the necessary pioneering work was being done, 
was the new governor's task. That Iversen should succeed in 
laying the foundation of a civil government out of the crude 
materials that he had at hand was in itself a creditable per- 
formance, and something for which his masters had reason to 
be grateful. But in putting through this pioneer work one is not 
surprised to find that he gained for himself a reputation for 
severity that made the directors declare that Governor Iver- 
sen's brutal management "has given the Company such a bad 
reputation among the common people in Denmark that they 
are of the opinion that if they should serve in the West Indies 
they would be worse off than if they had served in Barbary." 
There was indeed considerable ground for such a belief, and the 
fault did not all lie with Iversen's government. 

^^ Spoken of by Krarup (Jorgen Iversen, 28) a^ Burd. 



THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMPANY 39 

Besides the eighty-nine who died on board the Fero, seventy- 
five died not long after landing. The Pelican, which arrived in 
St. Thomas March 29, 1673, lost seven of its people en route and 
fifty-three after landing, out of a total of only sixty-seven. The 
galliot St. Thomas, which arrived at the island June 2, 1675, lost 
five out of nine men; and the Merman, which arrived on May 12, 
1675, lost thirty-four out of fifty-eight persons. There were 
enough survivors, however, to spread reports which required no 
exaggeration to give the West Indies the reputation of being a 
veritable charnel house. The resulting depletion was made 
good by further recourse to convicts and nondescripts, immi- 
grants against whom the governor never ceased to rail. "Un- 
controllable fellows, whom neither Holmen ^° nor the penitentiary 
could improve," "lazy, shiftless louts, who were of no use at 
home," "vagabonds and idlers," are terms employed by Iversen 
in describing various of his former charges, even after several 
years had intervened. To obtain honest or capable employees 
under these circumstances became well-nigh impossible. The 
knotty problem of securing suitable ministers reflects the pre- 
vailing difiiculties. After Kjeld Jensen's death on the outward 
voyage in 1672, George Jensen Morsing was appointed minister, 
but he dropped dead on April 23, 1673, just as he was about to 
take possession of the house assigned to him. The Schleswiger, 
Theodore Christensen Risbrich (Theodorus Christianus Hol- 
satus), who succeeded to the post, quarrelled with the governor 
from the beginning, called him a tyrant, and insisted on preach- 
ing in German, to the governor's disgust. He was finally per- 
mitted, in fact urged to leave the land in October, 1677. In 
1679 he brought a damage suit against the Company, and met 
its counter-charge of drunkenness by explaining that such a 
state "was easily brought about by the terrible stuff they 
make in that land," — ^referring to the young rum called "kill- 
devil" because of its reputed powers. 

The Danes were obviously passing through the most diflBcult 

pioneering period in the founding of plantation colonies, and 

learned, in common with other plantation pioneers, whether 

Spanish, English, Dutch or French, that the first serious prob- 

^° Holmen: workhouse for prisoners in Copenhagen. 



40 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

lem clamoring for solution was that of labor supply. ^^ As early 
as the beginning of the sixteenth century, when the Spanish 
government began to concern itself with the preservation of the 
aborigines, who proved unadaptable to severe labor, African 
slaves had been resorted to as a substitute for native and white 
labor. ^^ White convict labor was cursed at in Virginia, Barbados 
and Martinique as heartily as at St. Thomas. Indentured 
servants were among those who accompanied Governor Iversen 
on the initial voyage; but fevers, climate, and careless living 
killed them off faster than they could be replaced. This labor 
difficulty seems to have been anticipated in the charter to some 
extent when provision was made for absorption of the African 
company of Gliickstadt into the West India Company.^^ The 
union was in fact complete November 28, 1674, when Christian V 
issued an edict allowing the Danish West India Company to 
trade on the Guinea coast. ^* Meanwhile the African company 
had sent over a ship to Guinea in 1673 which added one hundred 
and three slaves to the St. Thomas labor supply; ^^ some smaller 
purchases were made from local dealers, and another voyage 
was taken by the Cornelia in the summer following, probably for 
the same company.^® 

In 1675 a Portuguese bark was found wrecked on the shore 
with a slave cargo, from which were secured twenty-four 
wretched negroes, of whom ten survived long enough to be 
entered on the books of the Company. The Dutch traders 
seemed peculiarly gifted with the power to scent a bargain from 
afar, whether in slaves, sugar, or silks. A certain Landert van 

^^ See Mims, Colbert's West India Policy, p. 283, for a statement of the con- 
ditions in the French islands; also Pierre Heinrich, La Louisiane sotts la Com- 
pagnie des Indes, pp. 32 et seq. 

^* G. Scelle, La traite negriere aux hides de Castille (Paris, 1906), I, 123-125, 
139-161. 

^^ See If 16 of octroi. 

^* Krarup, Jorgen Iversen, 31. Christiansborg Castle, near Accra on the 
Guinea coast, had been built by the Swedes in 1645 and captured from them by 
the Danes in 1657. The history of the Gliickstadt African Company up to the 
date of its merger with the Danish West India Company is exceedingly meager. 
Denmark finally sold its African possessions to Great Britain in 1850. 

" Mariager MS., 22. 

^' L. Fogtman, Alphabetisk Register . . . (see July 10, 1674). 



THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMPANY 41 

der Busse disposed of a batch of sixteen slaves to the Company 
in 1678, perhaps the remnant of a cargo that he had retailed 
down the islands. One Paul Jensen from Stade on the Elbe, but 
recorded as a "Swede," also sold slaves to the Company. That 
the slave trade of the Company was practically at a standstill is 
shown by the fact that the king in 1680 granted permission to 
Oliver Pauli, for a time secretary of the Company in Copen- 
hagen, to send a ship to Guinea for slaves. The growth of the 
colony in these early years, when rumors of pestilence and dis- 
affection were plentiful and dividends were scarce, was nat- 
urally slow. From a population of barely a hundred each of 
whites and blacks in 1673, the number had risen by 1680 (the 
last year of Iversen's stewardship) to a hundred and fifty-six 
whites and one hundred and seventy-five blacks. ^^ 

During these early years the colony at St. Thomas was too 
much concerned with keeping alive to become a dangerous com- 
petitor to the Dutch, French, or English. Nevertheless, the 
appearance of the Danes was greeted by a number of protests. 
The English governor of the Leeward Islands, General Sir 
Charles Wheler, lost no time in denying the rights of the Danes 
to any of the Virgin Islands, but on the vigorous representations 
of the Danish ambassador in London, Marcus Gioe, Charles II 
disavowed Wheler's actions, recalled him from his post and 
appointed Sir William Stapleton in his place. Charles' letter 
was dated September 23, 1672.^^ Spanish protests came in from 
the governor of Porto Rico in 1673 and 1675, based on the argu- 
ment that St. Thomas lay on the coast of Yucatan and Cam- 
peachy, which with the surrounding islands were the property of 
Spain. The directors, by way of reply, presented a memoran- 
dum to the Danish king, setting forth the fact that Spain claimed 
all the Virgin Islands in opposition to the claims of all nations, 
but that she did not actually occupy one; and further, that the 
Danes were looked upon by Charles II of England, in his letter 
(September 23, 1672) as rightful occupants. Christian V had 
his envoye at Madrid, George Reedtz, set forth these arguments, 

" Krarup, Iversen, 33; E. V. Lose (in Kirkehistorisk Saml., 6 R. II B., 298) 
28 Cd. Col. 1675-76, Addenda 1574-167^ No. 397. The relations of Stapleton 
with the St. Thomas authorities will be discussed in the next chapter. 



42 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

and gradually the pretensions of the Spaniards dwindled down 
for the time to an occasional more or less innocuous reference. ^^ 
The French had no valid grounds for protest. Their nearest 
colony was St. Croix which had been taken from the Spaniards 
in 1650 by an expedition sent by de Poincy from St. Christopher. 
Colbert, in his efforts to build up French commercial power, had 
practically closed French colonies to foreign trade, but the 
Dutch wars of Louis XIV made traffic between France and her 
West Indian colonies so precarious that Governor de Baas of 
St. Croix was forced in 1673 to open the island to Danish com- 
merce during six months to save his people from starving.^'' 
But when Denmark joined in the war against the French, this 
trade ceased, and the St. Thomas creditors were left with some 
thousands of rixdoUars worth of valueless paper on their hands. ^^ 

The news that war had broken out came in September, 1675, 
and for the time being the French contented themselves with 
seizing the Company's yacht at St. Croix. Finally, on Feb- 
ruary 2, 1678, the French actually attacked St. Thomas. Gov- 
ernor Iversen had made valiant efforts to complete the fort to 
the point where it could withstand attack; a tower had recently 
been finished, and when requested to surrender he was able to 
bid the enemy defiance. The French left after carrymg off a 
few slaves and some free negroes. After their departure the 
work on the fort was continued with greater vigor than ever so 
that by 1680 the governor was able to record that the fort was 
completed. With the one hundred and fifty men, white and 
black, that he had available, he felt himself able, so he reported 
to his masters, to beat off six hundred or even one thousand 
men. 

But the strenuous work involved in preparation against out- 
side attack had driven the planters as well as the governor al- 
most to desperation. With the malcontents under the Dutch- 
man Baggaert against him, with his health undermined by the 
strain of responsibility, and his temper becoming more and 

29 Manager MS., 18, 19. 
3» Mims, 323; Krarup, Iversen, 35. 

^^ "Debtors on St. Croix" were still in 1708 debited with 2,293 rdl., 5 marks in 
the Company's books at St. Thomas. A^. J. for St. Th., 1705-1708. 



THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMPANY 43 

more violent, his wife dead, and revengeful enemies on all sides. 
Governor Iversen finally insisted so strongly on being relieved 
that the directors proceeded in August and September, 1679, to 
choose a successor. They found one in the Holsteiner Nicholas 
Esmit, the only available candidate applying. He did not arrive 
until July 4, 1680, when he was received by Governor Iversen 
with appropriate pomp and ceremony. The new governor found 
the harbor supplied with a good fort, a road running through 
the island, fifty plantations surveyed, of which forty-six were 
actually occupied, the other four not having recovered from the 
attack of the French; he found the Company in possession of 
two plantations of its own, equipped with forty-nine slaves 
(men, women, and children), thirty -one cattle, seven horses, 
poultry, numbers of hogs, and with sheep and goats pastured on 
nearby islets. ^^ 

Although the little colony showed signs of vitality, the Com- 
pany could not begin to pay dividends. Of seven ships, in- 
cluding yachts and the like, which the Company or King had 
put into the West India or Guinea trade, several had undergone 
expensive repairs or costly seizures, and two, the Charlotte 
Amalia and the St. Vincent, had been wrecked altogether, 
bringing about a direct loss of 40,000 rdl. to the Company.^^ 
In the cargoes brought into Copenhagen had been included sugar, 
cotton, indigo, tobacco, ginger, cacao, " carret " (sea turtle), 
hides, pockwood and other valuable timber.^^ Only a half score 
of passports had been issued during the years 1671-1680 to 
ships bound from Copenhagen to the West Indies, and five for 
ships sailing to Guinea. Even the extension of trading priv- 
ileges granted by the Company in its mandate of February 22, 
1675, did not bring about the hoped for results.^^ Matters had 

^^Buck ("Bocken") and St. George ("S. Jorris") islets, and particularly 
Water Island, just outside the harbor, were used for pasturage purposes, 
Krarup, Iversen, 38. 

33 Manager MS., 22. 

3* Ibid., 19, 23. 

^^ By this mandate, the Company permitted its own shareholders to trade 
with St. Thomas on the payment to the government there of a ten per cent, 
duty on goods imported; while if they imported slaves they should pay a "recog- 
nition" or duty of one slave out of each fifty. Strangers might bring in goods 



44 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

come to a low pass largely because of the reaction of conditions 
in Europe upon the commercial situation both in the capital and 
in the colony. 

In carrying out his second war against the Dutch, Louis XIV 
had indeed secured the assistance of the former ally of the 
United Provinces, Sweden, and for a time that of England. The 
Netherlands were allied from the first with the Hohenzollern 
elector of Brandenburg and were later to be joined by the Em- 
peror and by their traditional enemy, Spain. Into this armed 
camp Denmark threw herself on the side of the Dutch, but 
against the Swedes, from whom she hoped to regain her lost 
provinces. Such a state of war not only militated against the 
success of the Company's efforts, but threatened the very 
existence of its American factory. 

for these return cargoes at the same rate of ten per cent. Each of the Danish 
skippers was to bring to St. Thomas two capable workingmen, for whom the 
Company would pay 10 rdl. each; while each failure to make such delivery was 
to be penalized by a fine of 20 rdl. 

This was very similar to the Arret promulgated by Colbert, January 22, 1671, 
to encourage the importation of white servants. Vessels of 100 tons or over 
were to carry two cows or two mares, and those of less to carry two indentured 
servants in place of each cow or mare. Mims, op. cit., 282. Three Bergen 
merchants, Jorgen Thormohlen, Cordt von Woyda, and Daniel Wolszman, 
received permission to send ships to the West Indies in this trade. A Christiania 
ship seems to have got to St. Thomas with a passport from the king, but with- 
out the knowledge or permission of the directors. Mariager MS., 26-28. 



CHAPTER II 

THE CRITICAL PERIOD (1680-1690) 

The conclusion of the peace with Sweden in 1679 was followed 
by a series of efforts on the part of the Danish crown to revive 
and quicken the economic life of the kingdom. The Board of 
Trade applied itself anew to the task, and a special commission 
with Jens Juel at its head was created in September, 1681, to 
supplement that body.^ In this revival of interest in commer- 
cial and kindred matters, the West India and Guinea venture 
came in for its share of attention. On March 3, 1680, the king 
issued an order, the provisions of which indicate clearly the low 
state of the company and the heroic measures necessary to fan 
into a flame its spark of remaining life. In this order the king 
pledged his assistance by offering to fit out and send a ship to 
Guinea to fetch slaves for use in St. Thomas; and he promised to 
send the needed number of men to the Guinea forts, which were 
sadly in need of assistance.^ The resolution of February 8, 
1675, confiscating to the Company the capital of participants 
who had not paid in their full quota was confirmed, and now 
each shareholder was assessed an amount equal to ten per cent, 
of the par value of his share. If he failed to pay, he was liable 
to lose his entire investment. Moreover, all government em- 
ployees in his majesty's dominions were "invited" to invest 
ten per cent, of their salary, if the latter was over 300 rdl. a year, 
in shares; if they had not paid in the required amount within 
four or six weeks, it would be deducted from their salaries. 
Finally, the king reached out after those wealthy but apathetic 
burghers and others who had hitherto refrained from investing 
or had been unduly cautious, by requiring that all carriage 

^ Other members of this commission were Michael Vibe, Peter Brandt, Paul 
Rosenpalm, and " procureur-general" Peter Scavenius. D. R. H., IV, 615. 
2 Manager MS., 37, 38. 

(451 



46 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

owners whose shares did not amount to 500 sldl. must invest 
60 rdl. once for all. 

Whatever the king and company's directors might propose, 
it was after all the servants of the company in the West Indies 
and on the Guinea coast on whom would rest the duty of dis- 
posing; and the success of their efforts would be largely condi- 
tioned by various external circumstances over which they had no 
control. To carry out the details required by this scheme of 
rehabilitation and readjustment, a committee of four ^ headed 
by Herman Meyer, councilor of war, admiralty and commerce, 
was appointed to take charge of supplying the Guinea forts with 
men and munitions and equipping ships for both Guinea and the 
West Indies. The result was that the Merman was sent out to 
Guinea ^ under Captain Ove Ovesen, who took with him a new 
merchant and commander for the Guinea factory, while the 
Crowned Griffin was sent to St. Thomas, passing Kronborg castle 
on September 4, 1680, under Captain John Blom.^ 

The home authorities had done all that they could, and as- 
suredly no less than was needed. It remained to be seen to what 
extent their efforts would be seconded by their employees and 
favored by circumstances. The new governor of St. Thomas, 
Nicholas Esmit, had given the directors plenty of promises, but 

had been unable to produce any recommendations. The pend- 
ing resignation of Iversen gave them no time to search about for 
candidates. Esmit claimed to have been a skipper, called him- 
self captain, and asserted that he had served his apprenticeship 
with the English at Jamaica. His name Esmit was probably 

^ The others were Peter Bladt, Assessor in the Board of Trade, Mauritz van 
der Thy, and Claus Sohn. 

* No pass appears to be recorded in Vestindisk Reg. 1671-99 for this ship. 
Merman = Hafmanden or Havmanden. 

'^ Mariager MS., 34 et seq.; Vest. Reg., 1671-99. The Crowned Griffin = den 
Cronede Griff. 



THE CRITICAL PERIOD (1680-1690) 47 

originally Schmidt and would point to a sojourn in Spain. He 
was apparently related to that John Esmit who, according to a 
petition filed in 1671 had been consul in Spain for four years and 
thereafter receiver of customs in Copenhagen for twelve years 
and had been at one time in charge of the renovation of the 
city.« 

On his arrival at St. Thomas, Captain Esmit was all amiabil- 
ity, but he began very soon to lend his ear to George Iversen's 
enemies, particularly to the Dutch absconder, Carl Baggaert. 
He released one Peter Jansen from the prison into which his 
predecessor had cast him, and before Iversen had got ready to 
leave for home via St. Croix, which he did on September 20, 
1680, Esmit had so far broken with the former governor as to 
forbid his living at the fort. The obvious attempt of the new 
encumbent to curry favor with the lawless element did not bode 
well for the colony. 

It must be borne in mind that since the treaty of Madrid 
(1670) the English governors in the West Indies had been 
strictly enjoined to suppress privateering. Their task had been 
a difficult one, for Spain not only protested against English 
logwood cutters being allowed to exploit the swamps of Yucatan 
but effected a considerable number of captures.^ The distinc- 
tion between logwood cutting and piracy was apparently not 
very clear to the Spanish official mind. 

Among the most conscientious officials were Sir Thomas 
Lynch, who was governor of Jamaica in 1671 and after an ab- 
sence of a few years was reappointed in 1681, and Sir William 
Stapleton, governor of the Leeward Islands. Assuredly pri- 
vateering and the development of plantations and legitimate 
trade did not go hand in hand. Until there was reasonable 
guarantee that plantation products would be safe from seizure 
on the high seas, men would be chary of sinking their funds or 
investing their labor in plantations. 

From the viewpoint of British expansion, commercial and 
territorial, the Danish islands, like the Dutch and French, were 

' Nielsen, Kohenhavn, V, 62 el seq. 

'' It was reported in 1674 that 75 English ships had been seized by the Span- 
iards since 1670. Beer, The Old Colonial System, 1660-1688, II, 68. 



48 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

on the frontier between the Spaniards and the English. This 
frontier had been pushed forward by a straight conquest to in- 
clude Jamaica; buccaneers had made sport of it and were finally 
to extend it permanently into Campeachy. It was in this twi- 
light zone, haunted by buccaneers and men of their type, that 
St. Thomas had found itself since its settlement. To keep the 
island out of complications with its powerful neighbor required 
more firmness and clear-headedness than was possessed by 
Nicholas Esmit. Of his early history as governor only a few en- 
lightening documents exist, but a letter written by him to the 
directors May 17, 1682, is sufficiently illustrative of the ways of 
the privateers and of their reception in St. Thomas to justify! 
quotation: 

"There arrived here February 8 [1682] a ship of unknown, 
origin, some two hundred tons in size, without guns, passport or[ 
letters, and with seven men, French, English, and German. O 
being questioned they replied that they had gone out of Es 
'paniola [Hispaniola] from the harbor of Petit Guava {sic) witK 
two hundred men and a French commission to cruise on the 
Spaniards. They had come to the coast of Terra Firma and 
landed in the river of Danan [Darien?] where they were joined 
by the wild Indians who were to show them the way over the! 
landtotheSouthSea, which they also did; . . . and they took £^ 
little ship or bark with a hundred blocks [bars?] of silver, next aj^ 
large vessel, and finally a Spanish galleon, with which they did 
much damage over all the South Sea; and after having robbeq 
for two years in the South Seas, they escaped around Terra de' 
fago [del Fuego] . . . and on January 28 came to anchor ir^ 
Antigo [Antigua], where all the English in the crew went ovej 
on the English ship with all their gold and silver. The restiii 
namely seven men, who had risked [?] and doubled their moneys* 
sailed for Petit Goava, but on the way the boat leaked, so the;^ 
asked to come in to St. Thomas and there careen the boat; 
which was done at Strand Slucken [Gregerie Beach?] by the aicj 
of thirty men sent out by me. I bought what little cacao thejlj 
had, the rest of their plunder they brought ashore and divide( j 
among our people. The ship was no longer usable. I havji: 
decided not to confiscate it, in order to avoid any unfriendliness : 



THE CRITICAL PERIOD (1680-1690) 49 

with sea-robbers. The inhabitants of St. Thomas have decided 
that the said seven men shall remain among them." ^ 

But clearly enough such cheerful receptions could not go on 
very long without arousing serious misgivings in the watchful 
governor of the Leeward Islands, Sir William Stapleton. On 
August 18, 1682, one Captain "Toms Wadsten" (Thomas 
Watson?) came into St. Thomas harbor with his sloop, the 
Prosperous, and received permission of the governor to come 
in to revictual. The vessel had come from Barbados, it was 
said, and was bound for Jamaica. On the captain's remaining 
in the harbor longer than the time agreed on, and selling great 
quantities of "kill-devil," stuffs, linen, gloves, and the like, his 
vessel and remaining goods were seized and declared good prize. 
A commission headed by the Carl Baggaert before mentioned, 
and including "Mr. William Borth" (Burke?) an "expert buyer 
of English and Irish wares," found the confiscated cargo to be 
worth £108, 13s. 2d. On August 26, Captain Watson and his 
mate, John Campion, were condemned to be hanged. This in- 
teresting ceremony occurred "in the proper place, where or- 
dinary justice is done." There the victim was suspended "by 
a strap;" "Robbert Wautersen van Rotterdam" was ordered 
banished, while the chief witness, John Finlasson, was to leave 

8 Breve og Dokumenter, 1683-1689, from a copy by O. Pauli, the company's 
secretary in Copenhagen. This rather quaint account of the rovings of a buc- 
caneering expedition in the South Seas is really the Danish version in a nutshell 
of the famous voyage described at length in John Exquemelin's history of the 
buccaneers. In the London edition of that work, which was published in 1685, 
was included under a separate title "The Dangerous Voyage and Bold Attempts 
of Capt. Bartholomew Sharp and others, written by Mr. Basil Ringrose, who 
was all along present." One of the nine "captains" of whom that writer makes 
mention was Bartholomew Sharp, who was sent to England with some of his 
fellows, at the instance of the Spanish ambassador in London, where they were 
to be tried for piracy. After having secured his acquittal with the others on 
the plea that the Spaniards had fired the first shot. Captain Sharp returned to 
the West Indies, eventually settling down in St. Thomas, where he succeeded 
in making the governor's existence miserable. In John Lorentz's term of office, 
sixteen years after his South Sea exploit, after sickness had deprived him of the 
use of his hands, he was still able, through the indiscriminate use of an active 
and violent tongue, to earn a sentence of imprisonment for life from an indig- 
nant governor and council. Lorentz to Directors (24 June, 1698). C. B., 
1690-1713. 



50 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

the island within a fortnight. The order was signed by Bag- 
gaert and one Jochum Delicaet, a wily Dutchman who will 
come in for attention later .^ Before Governor Stapleton could 
get a chance to secure the delivery of the sloop to him, Nicholas 
Esmit was replaced by his brother Adolph, who had become the 
leader of a faction of the more unruly planters. ^° Adolph was 
shifty, shrewd, vain, and at times boastful, and an exceedingly 
exasperating neighbor to deal with. 

It is in the period when the Esmit brothers were responsible 
for the government of St. Thomas, that the island gained its 
reputation as a resort for pirates. For that reason their relations 
with pirates, or with persons suspected of being such, deserve to 
be examined with some minuteness. On October 7, 1782, 
Governor Stapleton sent Thomas Biss, his deputy on Tortola, 
to "the Honorable Governor Esmit in St. Thomas Island," for 
to have written "of St. Thomas Island" would have been an 
official recognition of the usurpation. On the demand of Biss 
for the restoration of a sloop, which he maintained had been 
seized from its lawful owner, as well as on the request for the de- 
livery of seven white servants who had run away from Mont- 
serrat, Adolph Esmit gave contradictory and evasive answers. 
When the English official demanded the runaway servants, 
Esmit had replied that this was a free port ^^ and that anyone 
asking for protection was entitled to it. "Sir," was the reply of 
Biss, "if your port is free, why did you seize the sloop? If some 
rogues have freedom here, why not all?" ^^ 

Later, in a communication to Biss, Esmit offered to restore the 
sloop (which he had already sold at auction for twenty-five 
pieces of eight) on the presentation of a certificate from Cover- 
s'. £!.,.. . 1682-85, "Lit. A." and "Lit. B." appended to A. Esmit's letter 
to the king (1 Sept., 1683). Delicaet's first name was frequently spelled Jo- 
achim. 

^^ On 3 August, 1682, Nicholas had discharged a debt of 3,000 rdl. to his 
brother, described in the document as "young of years and faithful," by deeding 
him his share of a plantation 3,000 feet long and stocked with 37 slaves, 
houses, indigo, "works," etc. The deposing of Nicholas took place in the 
autumn. (J5. & D., 1683-89.) 

^1 This appears to be the first reference to St. Thomas as a free port. 
12 Cal. Col, 1681-85, No. 777 (11 Nov., 1682). 



THE CRITICAL PERIOD (1680-1690) 51 

nor Stapleton showing that he had authority to receive it, and 
on payment of certain charges. ^^ In a moderately toned letter of 
December 12, addressed to "Capt. Adolphus Eastmitt," Staple- 
ton reiterated his demand for restitution of sloop and runaways 
"now that I understand that you have the power in yr hand." 
Esmit's reply did not entirely suit the English governor who 
wrote, "It doesn't show much inclination to live in peace, to 
say that some [of the seven servants] have gone to Leeward and 
one is in the [Danish] king's service, which is all one with saying 
their money in part is employed in the king's service soe is the 
boat in which they were transported and ye sloop and goods 
too." 

But the governor wanted his neighbors to understand that 
his patience had limits. "You may be confident," he added, 
"that the detention of sloop goods and servants will not be 
forgotten. It were no hard matter for me to let you otherwise 
know it but my inclination is otherwise." Esmit declined to be 
bluffed, however. In his reply, dated January 8, 1683, he re- 
fused to assume responsibility for the acts of his brother or to 
trouble himself further concerning the whole matter, saucily 
adding that "I know you serve his Mayts (Majesty) of Engen- 
lant whom I have had the Honner to Serve as Capt: whose 
Commission I have [and] alsoo another from his Rojall Heighnis : 
and att present I Sarve my Master the Souerin King of Denne- 
marck and thus I conclude." ^* 

Meantime Governor Stapleton had incorporated his griev- 
ances into a vigorous letter which he had sent to the Lords of 
Trade and Plantation on November 11, 1682.^^ They suffered 
alike, he explained, from Dutch and Danes, from fugitive serv- 
ants, black and white, and from seamen and other debtors, who 
had run away to these islands and were never restored, on the 
ground that the freedom of their port protects all, and he de- 
spaired as to how to proceed except by the law of the Turks and 
Algerines. The complaint was promptly conveyed to the 
Danish envoy at London, Christian Lente, by the Earl of 

" A. Esmit to Mr. Biss (20 Nov., 1682). A. E., 1682-89. 

" A. E., 1682-89. 

15 Cat. Col, 1681-85. No. 777. 



52 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

Sunderland, with a request for the restoration of the sloop and 
servants.^® Within a fortnight the Danish king had written a 
vigorous letter to Esmit rebuking him and ordering him to 
restore ship and fugitive servants forthwith, on pain of summary 
punishment of death. Further complaint of violence would 
certainly bring this punishment upon him.^^ 

It could assuredly not have missed the observation of the 
de facto governor that serious trouble was in the wind; and so 
long as he had secured no commission, his position was bound to 
be exceedingly precarious. The directors of the company in 
Copenhagen had early learned of Nicholas Esmit's doings at 
St. Thomas, and decided to have him replaced at the earliest 
opportunity by a more likely incumbent. In March 1682 
George Iversen who had recuperated from his severe expe- 
rience again sought his former post. In this and in his plans for 
strengthening the colony by another consignment of convicts 
Iversen was supported by Jens Juel and Albert Gyldensparre 
who with Edward Hoist, assumed the direction of the company's 
affairs in 1682, on the resignation of Hans Nansen and Herman 
Meyer. ^^ The governor-elect received his commission Septem- 
ber 26, 1682, his final instructions on October 28, and left 
Elsinore on November 10, just when Stapleton was formulating 
his charges against Adolph Esmit. But Iversen was never to 
reach his destination, for after he had passed the Azores, he and 
those in authority with him fell victims to a mutiny instigated 
by their convict cargo. ^^ 

As the news of this latest misfortune was reaching the direc- 
tors at Copenhagen, Adolph Esmit was sending his recently ' 
married English wife Charity to Denmark to plead his case and I 

procure him a commission."" He sent in numerous documents j 

j 
18 Cal Col, 1681-85. No. 993 (Mar. 8, 1683). I 

" Ibid., No, 1003 (Mar. 17, 1683). Another copy of the same docu- j 

ment has been calendared by mistake under date of Mar. 17, 1684 (No. 

1597). !| 

'^ Manager MS., 44. | 

1^ Krarup, Iversen, 43 et seq. Most of the mutineers were caught and horribly i 

put to death in Copenhagen. CJ. Haring, Buccaneers, 237, where "Everson" 

is confused with Milan. , 

2° A. E., 1682-89 (May 1, 1683). 



THE CRITICAL PERIOD (1680-1690) 53 

intended to prove his brother's treachery and justify his own 
actions.^^ Charity Esmit was a shrewd woman, of wide ac- 
quaintance in official, if not indeed in royal circles. She was an 
adept at intriguing, and lost no time in pulling all available 
wires to keep her husband in his place. ^^ Her insistence was 
rewarded when the king and the directors decided early in 
July that the low estate of the company demanded that for the 
present the incumbent be confirmed in his office, and issued the 
commission on July 17. 

Before Charity could bring her husband the much desired 
commission, matters had rapidly approached a crisis in St. 
Thomas. In response to requests from West Indian governors 
for men of war to protect their interests, the English king had 
sent H. M. S. Ruhy under Capt. Richard May to the Leeward 
Islands early in 1683. In his search for a French pirate ship, 
La Trompeuse, captained by the notorious Jean Hamlin, he 
visited St. Thomas early in July,^^ but failed to find the ship, 
although Sir Thomas Lynch had reported the presence of La 
Trompeuse in a letter to the Lord President of the Council, 
written on May 6.^^ But the English were not to be balked so 
easily of their prey. At three o'clock on the morning of July 30, 
Capt. Charles Carlile put into St. Thomas harbor with H. M. S. 
Francis, a ship sent by the king early in the year with ammuni- 
tion and supplies for the new forts at St. Christopher, Nevis, 
Montserrat, and Antigua. Carlile had with him a letter of 
recommendation from Sir William Stapleton. The object of the 
search. La Trompeuse, a ship of thirty-two guns and six boats 
(patararoes) was lying at anchor within, and (according to 
Capt. Carlile) the Francis was greeted by some shots from 
either the pirate or the fort. On Tuesday, July 31, the English 

^* An English pirate, George Bond, was one of those whose depositions were 
included. Various threats made by Nicholas Esmit at St. Christopher and St. 
Eustatius against St. Thomas inhabitants were adduced. A. E., 1683-89 
(May 1, 1683). 

2^ One of Adolph Esmit's most steadfast friends was Steen Andersen Bille, 
vice commandant of Copenhagen in 1676, appointed to the war college in 1679, 
and made a noble in that year. 

28 A. E.. 1682-89 (July 2/l2, 1685). 

" Cal. Col, 1681-85, No. 1065 (May 6, 1683). 



54 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

captain sent a protest to the governor concerning the shooting, 
and planned to burn up the pirate ship that night. The gover- 
nor's explanation that he had already taken her into custody 
and sent her men ashore did not help matters, for in that case 
he was responsible for the firing on the Enghsh flag. Esmit's 
efforts to cajole Carlile ashore by sending him a present and an 
invitation to dine were too transparent to succeed. Carlile was 
in no mood to risk a delay that might bring in the pirate ship's 
consort, which was daily expected, so he sent his men on board 
her that evening (Tuesday) and fired her. In the conflagration, 
another privateer lying near at hand caught fire and was burned. ^^ 
In vain did Esmit fulminate against this confessedly high- 
handed measure and against Carlile's threat to summon three 
more frigates to his assistance if Esmit did not deliver up the 
pirate Englishmen who were ashore. Esmit admitted the 
firing of a shot from the castle but maintained that his purpose 
was merely to secure due salute. Since he was accused of undue 
intimacy with pirates, he sent over in irons the man who fired 
the shot. The rest, he explained, had fled.^^ 

Esmit's first care was to notify the French governor of St. 
Croix, for the French might be expected to put in a claim for the 
restitution of property belonging to one of their subjects,^'^ 
although in his claim to Carlile Esmit argued that the frigate 
belonged to the King of Denmark. Stapleton had now secured 
the means by which he could back up his words with powder 
and ball, and was prepared to press his advantage. On Au- 
gust 15 he demanded that Esmit deliver up Jean Hamlin, whom 
the St. Thomas governor had evidently befriended. "Have a 
care," he wrote, "I shall come from the Leeward Islands with 
an armed force, blow you up as quickly as the Trompeuse, and 
pound any pirate that you may have fitted out. If you have a 
spark of honesty in you restore me the sloop and runaway serv- 
es Cal. Col., 1681-85, Nos. 1168. 1173, 1188, 1190; A. E., 1682-89 (Aug. 1, 
1683). 
28 Ihid., No. 1173. Esmit to Stapleton (Aug. 1, 1683). 

^ Ibid., No. 1381. The Chevalier of St. Laurens, French governor 
of Martinique, sent a protest to Governor Stapleton Nov. 13, 1683, main- 
taining not without reason that his men should have spared the ships and 
punished the pirates. 



THE CRITICAL PERIOD (1680-1690) 55 

ants that I have already claimed." ^^ In a letter to the Lords of 
Trade written on the same day Stapleton expressed himseK with 
equal vigor and at greater length. He was sending Carlile out 
after Cooke and Bond, two other English pirates who had been 
befriended by the Danish governor. "There is more need of 
such [i. e., good ships] in the Leeward Islands than in any other 
government," he wrote, "with their mixture of Spanish, French, 
Danes, Dutch, and Indians." ^^ Stapleton's wounded feeHngs 
received some balm when a copy reached him of Christian V's 
order to Esmit's brother Nicholas to deliver to the English island 
of Montserrat the sloop and goods seized, and likewise to restore 
the seven runaway servants. ^° He may also have extracted com- 
fort from the success of his men in breaking up the "castle" that 
Esmit had caused to be built on St. John, and in despoiling of 
their live stock the grazing islets near St. Thomas harbor.^^ 

Esmit was nothing daunted by Stapleton's threats. He 
seized English sloops when he could lay hands on them and sold 
Jean Hamlin a new sloop, perhaps one of those seized from the 
English. Hamlin went back to his old trade ^^ in company with a 
Captain Morgan, a pirate and a namesake of that other Morgan 
who was trying in the capacity of lieutenant governor of Jamaica 
to suppress piracy in Caribbean waters. Captain George Bond, 
master of the ship Summer Island of London, had bought a 
Dutch vessel at St. Thomas, fitted her out there, turned pirate, 
and sent some of his captured booty back to St. Thomas for safe 
keeping.^^ 

Madame Esmit's return from Copenhagen in November 1683 
with the coveted commission was a triumph of which neither she 

28 Cal. Col., 1681-85. No. 1189 (Aug. 15, 1683). 

2* Ibid., No. 1188. The Indians were on the rampage in the Windward Islands 
at this time. 

^° Adolph Esmit's commission was dated July 17, 1683. The order for the 
release of the sloop was signed Oct. 4, 1683. Cal. Col, 1681-85, No. 2087. 

»i A. E.. 1683-89 (Aug. 26, 1683). "Lit. D." 

^2 Cal. Col., 1681-85, No. 1223. Stapleton to Lords of Trade (Aug. 30, 1683). 
Before long Hamlin is again heard of as a captain of La Nouvelle Trompeuse, 
which Stapleton asserted was fitted and protected by the godly New England 
independents. Ibid., No. 2042 (Jan. 7, 1685). 

" Ibid., Nob. 1471-1474, 1535. 



56 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

nor her husband was slow to take advantage. Difficulty of 
communication between new and old world meant that the 
oflFences and grievances of the summer, which had been accu- 
mulating in London and Copenhagen, became the topic of dip- 
lomatic negotiation in the winter following. The commission 
arrived none too soon, for malcontents within the colony were 
already plotting Adolph Esmit's overthrow. Now that he was 
governor in his own right, he could proceed against his local 
enemies with a vigor born of authority. The first to become 
a target for the governor's wrath was the leader of the plot, Otto 
Eden, who was condemned to death in the month following 
Madame's return.^^ His two chief accomplices got off with fines, 
and banishment to their plantations for nine months. ^^ Esmit 
showed very much the same instability of character in dealing 
with the inhabitants, that he showed in his relations with his 
neighbors on other islands. The return of Madame Esmit 
could not but further embitter the life of the conscientious, if 
irascible, Stapleton. "Never was like impudence on the earth 
as of Esmit and his wife," he wrote to the Lords of Trade, Feb- 
ruary 13, 1684. "She gives out that she is the relict of an 
English baron." 

Had Governor Iversen lived to arrive safely at his post early 
in 1683 when he was expected, the company might have been 
spared much expense and annoyance, and the colony a harrowing 
experience. For Esmit was no more inclined to give up his 
habits than Stapleton was to let him cultivate them in peace. 
In April 1684 Sir William issued an order to Col. Thomas Hill, 
authorizing him to secure any persons that he might find in the 
Virgin Islands, especially Danes, and bring them to Nevis.^^ 
Before long Esmit's secretary, Martin Borel, with three negroes 
was captured and detained in arrest at Nevis. When Esmit 
threatened to send the secretary's seven children over into 
Stapleton's safekeeping in case their mother who was danger- 
ously ill, should die,^^ the secretary was returned. 

s< A. E., 1682-89 (Nov. 20, and Dec, 1683). 

'^ Ibid. (Jan. 26, 1684). They were Jochum Delicaet and Jan Borris. 

56 Cal. Col, 1681-85. 1947, III (April 3, 1684). 

" Ibid., 1947, II (June 11, 1684); A. E. (June 16, 1684). 



THE CRITICAL PERIOD (1680-1690) 57 

About two months before Madame Esmit's return, and too 
early to permit the news of it to reach Copenhagen before she 
had made off with her husband's precious commission, Stapleton 
had sent in two letters with his latest grievances against his 
recalcitrant neighbor. ^^ The news transmitted by Stapleton 
concerning Jean Hamlin proved the last straw, and on Novem- 
ber 14, 1683 the king issued an Order in Council authorizing 
Governor Stapleton to seize the governor of St. Thomas and to 
hinder the further harboring of pirates in that place. ^^ The 
Danish envoy was notified of the action taken, and the sending 
of the order was delayed until he could communicate with the 
government at Copenhagen.^° In February, 1684, the Earl 
of Sunderland, Secretary of State, was informed by Christian 
Lente, the Danish envoy, that the King of Denmark had ordered 
the arrest of the governor of St. Thomas. ^^ 

Affairs were by this time moving rather too swiftly for the 
comfort of the directors at Copenhagen. On account of Iversen's 
death, they had been forced against their will to confirm the 
usurper and harborer of pirates in his office until they could se- 
cure a new incumbent. But the patience of the English govern- 
ment was evidently exhausted, and it was in no mood to listen 
to Esmit's counter complaints. So in a shareholders' meeting 
held on March 10, the directors of the Danish company were 
asked to choose a new governor. 

Two available candidates presented themselves, "auditor" 
Balthasar Lachmann and Gabriel Milan. The latter was selected 
because of his knowledge of languages and of his business ability 
to fill the vacant place. ^^ The recommendation, dated March 14, 
was signed by the executive committee of the directors, con- 
sisting of Albert Gyldensparre, a brother of the disgraced Count 
Griffenfeld, Abraham Wiist, later to become a member of the 
Board of Trade, and Edward Hoist. The terms on which the 
office was to be bestowed were presently agreed upon, and on 

38 Ca/. Col, 1681-85, No. 1188 (Aug. 15) and 1222 (Aug. 30, 1683). 

29 Ibid., No. 1382. 

^" Krarup, Milan. 3. 

« Col. Col., 1681-85. No. 1547 (Feb. 19). 

** Erarup. Milan, 3. 



58 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

May 7, 1684, the king issued an order deposing Adolph Esmit 
and naming Gabriel Milan as governor of St. Thomas in his 
stead. *3 

To take the new governor and his retinue over to the West 
Indies, the king set aside the warship, Fortuna, armed with forty 
guns and provided with a crew of eighty men, and placed in 
command Captain George Meyer, a German-speaking officer 
who had been in the Danish service for five years. Besides his 
own family, consisting of a wife, a grown son, Felix, and four 
children, Milan brought with him a governess, three maids, 
three lackeys, a laborer, and a Tartar. ^^ As merchant at the 
St. Thomas factory and next in authority to the governor, the 
directors sent along Niels Lassen, and as "assistant" in the 
company's office (a clerical place) John Lorentz, a young man 
from Flensborg in Schleswig who had contracted to serve the 
company for four years. 

Lavish provision was made for the governor's comfort. 
Various kinds of foreign wines were taken on board, and place 
was even found for six or seven dogs. The king had furnished 
him with 6,000 rdl. cash for his immediate needs and given him 
part of his salary in advance. Certainly no charge of niggard- 
liness could be laid against the Company, the entire original 
stock of which amounted to not more than 44,866 rdl. (64,300 
sldl.). Captain Meyer was entrusted with a secret order direct- 
ing that in case of Milan's death Niels Lassen should succeed 
to the governorship, and that in case of the death of the latter. 
Lieutenant Christopher Heins of St. Thomas should take 
charge. ^^ The Fortuna remained long enough to receive a copy 
of Charles II 's orders to Stapleton to assist the new governor in 
case Esmit should resist. ^^ 

The man who was charged with the responsibility of re- 
deeming the good name of his country in the far-off Caribbean 
had led an eventful life. Milan came of a reputable Jewish 
family which had connections in Portugal, Flanders, and 

*3 Christian V. to A. Esmit. A. E., 1682-89. 

■'^ Krarup, Milan, 5. 

45 Ibid., 6. 

« Cal. Col, 1681-85, No. 1676 (May 13). 



THE CRITICAL PERIOD (1680-1690) 59 

Hamburg. His family was related by marriage to the well- 
known Portuguese-Jewish houses of da Costa and de Castro. 
He had, according to his own account, begun his career as a 




soldier, and had served under Cardinal Mazarin in France. 
In 1667 he appears in the role of an Amsterdam merchant; he 
was concerned with financing a foreign journey undertaken by 
Prince George of Denmark; in 1668 he was made Danish factor, 
and in 1670 factor-general, in Amsterdam. 

In this capacity he composed reports on political and com- 
mercial matters, a circumstance that brought him into con- 
fidential relations with various important personages at the 
Danish court, among whom the Peter Schumacher (Count 
Griffenfeld) before mentioned was his chief stay untU the latter's 
fall in 1676. Among his linguistic acquisitions he counted 
Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, and Dutch. 

Milan had tried in vain to get an appointment to the Board 
of Trade on the ground that he knew the tricks of traders and 
money-changers, and he had accumulated a list of claims against 
his royal master for services rendered in the Netherlands — from 
espionage to loans of money — ^which he had small chance of 
collecting in cash. His prospects of getting into the employ of 
the state were improved when on January 18, 1682, he secured 
a certificate showing that he had discussed with a, Hamburg 
Lutheran minister the relative merits of Catholicism and 
Protestantism, had thereby become convinced of the truth of 
the Augsburg Confession, and had partaken of the Holy Com- 
munion. In depending upon the favor of princes he had been 
forced, even before his appointment as governor, to drink 
deep from the cup of misfortune. However praiseworthy the 



60 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

King's selection of this fifty-three years old soldier of fortune for 
service in the company might have been from motives of human- 
ity, his choice could scarcely have been looked upon by hard- 
headed business men with anything but misgivings. ^^ 

The Fortuna arrived at St. Thomas on October 13, 1684, after 
a voyage of about nine weeks. *^ At Nevis Milan called on Octo- 
ber 6 to pay his respects to Governor Stapleton and to receive 
the latter 's "instructions." Sir William seems to have availed 
himself of the opportunity to accompany Milan and to witness 
Adolph Esmit's final disgrace. Esmit handed over the reins of 
office without delay or resistance. He also handed over a 
treasury so empty that when the English were ready to depart, 
after having been entertained for ten days, the money needed 
for the purchase of parting gifts for the English dignitaries had 
to be borrowed by the government from a planter. What was 
worst of all, Esmit handed over to Milan an island that had 
become an outlaw among its more reputable neighbors. This 
was shown clearly enough two months before the latter's ar- 
rival, when, on May 22, a Spanish captain, Antonio Martino, 
landed and carried fifty-six slaves off to Hispaniola or Haiti. 
Lieutenant Heins had been sent over with two planters to de- 
mand the return of the loot, but without success. ^^ 

That Esmit had been prepared for the present contingency 
there could be no doubt. The gold, silver, and other property 
that he was able to scrape together had been sent to the Dutch 
island of St. Eustatius, whence they were to be shipped to 
Flushing. Although Milan had been instructed only to secure 
the persons of Esmit and his family and to have them sent to 
Copenhagen, he took it upon himself to try to secure the latter's 
property as well, by sending Niels Lassen to Governor Hout- 
coper of St. Eustatius with an alleged copy of his instructions and 
a demand for the delivery of the goods. But neither this nor 
subsequent attempts availed the crafty governor. Instead of 

« In Personalhistorisk Tidskrift, 3 R. 2 B. (Kjobenhavn, 1893) 102 et seq. 
F. Krarup has given an admirable and exhaustive account of Milan's early life, 
which has been followed in the preceding paragraphs. 

« Ibid., 6. 

« Ibid.. 7. 



THE CRITICAL PERIOD (1680-1690) 61 

seeking redress through diplomatic channels, as his masters ex- 
pected him to do, he authorized Captain Delicaet to take the 
company's ship Charlotte Amalia, find the skipper who had 
transported the goods and make his ship lawful prize.^*^ It was 
to avoid just this sort of complication that Esmit had been dis- 
placed. But Milan was an exponent of direct action, he sought 
advice from none, and the council dared not oppose his will. 

Instead of sending his deposed predecessor back to Copen- 
hagen to answer for his stewardship over the company's affairs, 
and to act as defendant in a suit brought by his brother Nicholas, 
he clapped him into confinement, first keeping him at the fort as 
his guest, but later putting him in a prison cell.^^ Madame 
Esmit had rightly decided that she could be more useful in 
Copenhagen than in St. Thomas, and had started on her journey 
before Milan arrived. By this time matters had grown rather 
beyond her power of control, despite all her influential friends 
and her genius for intrigue; so she confined herself to taking 
measures to save what she could of the family property. She 
returned to St. Thomas in December to share the hardships of 
prison life with her husband. 

The story of how Governor Milan, his sick body racked with 
fever almost from the first, restlessly suspicious and ofttimes 
with reason of his fellow men, jealous of his official power and 
position, administered the affairs of St. Thomas during his 
sixteen months' incumbency may be dealt with rather briefly. 
In Captain Meyer's attempt to provide the Fortuna with a good 
return cargo the governor took but an indifferent interest, and 
as to the Esmits' returning on the Fortuna, he would have none 
of it. Just why he should deliberately keep with him persons 
who could not but be a source of trouble as long as they were 
near, is difficult to explain on other grounds than cupidity. 
Milan had been unable to lay his hands on Esmit's gains. In his 
relations with his council, he showed his arbitrariness and wil- 
fulness. In place of Lieutenant Heins, who happened to be 
absent on the company's business when Milan arrived, the 

^° Personalhislorisk Tidskrift, 3 R. 2 B., 9. The skipper's name was Jochum 
Samuelsen. 
" Esmit to Gyldensparre (September 23, 1686). A. E., 1682-89. 



62 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

governor promptly appointed his son, Felix. ^^ Instead of select- 
ing permanent councilors from among the planters as he had 
been instructed to do under certain specified conditions, he 
put in now one, now another, until fourteen planters had taken 
part in the government with him.^^ 

With the other planters Milan was equally whimsical. For 
trifling misdemeanors he instituted elaborate investigations and 
meted out extravagant fines and punishments where a wiser 
man would have overlooked the whole matter.®"* Offending 
negroes were made to feel the pressure of the governor's heavy 
hand. A runaway who might have been mercifully beheaded 
was impaled alive on a sharpened stick to die in horrible agony.®® 
Another negro, arrested on a similar charge, had his foot cut off, 
after which he was confiscated to the governor's use and put 
to work in his kitchen. 

When in the spring following the departure of the Fortuna 
(on March 31, 1685), Milan got wind of what he at once sus- 
pected to be a nefarious plot against his life, he vented his fury 
upon the unfortunate persons with swift and fiendish vengeance.®® 
In the midst of charges and counter-charges, one fact stood out 
with a clearness that was unmistakable. Milan's stewardship of 
his own plantation property was above reproach; seventy 
negroes remained on the plantation even after twenty -five had 
been returned to an Englishman from whom they had been 
forcibly seized.®^ Here prosperity was rife. 

In Copenhagen Captain Meyer's arrival was naturally 
awaited with a good deal of interest, even anxiety. The cap- 
tain's report when he arrived on June 10, 1685, without Adolph 
Esmit, and even without a word from Milan, gave the directors 
and shareholders food for thought. Although they had only the 
captain's unsupported word, the small cargo and Milan's 
silence could not but rouse their fears that something was 

^2 Krarup, Milan, 9. 

63 Ibid., 10. 

" Ibid., 12, 23, 26, 36. 

65 Ibid.. 22, 23. 

66 Ibid.. 23-26. 
6^ Ibid., 38. 



THE CRITICAL PERIOD (1680-1690) 63 

seriously wrong at St. Thomas. A meeting of the Company's 
shareholders was held within two days, and it was decided that 
the situation was serious enough to justify sending a memorial 
to the king asking once more for the loan of the Fortuna, and 
for the sending thence of a commissioner with power to settle all 
the difficulties. They suggested an attorney or fiscal in the navy 
department, Michael (Mikkel) Mikkelsen.^^ The king could do 
nothing but fall in with the company's recommendations. 

Commissioner Mikkelsen, armed with full power, left Copen- 
hagen on the Fortuna October 15, 1685, touched at Nevis on 
February 19 to get the latest St. Thomas advices, and arrived at 
his destination on February 24, 1686. The governor's son, 
Ferdinand, had already sent his father a warning from Copen- 
hagen that it was planned to send out a new governor, namely. 
Captain Meyer, whom the governor had blamed for most of his 
misfortunes, even his illness. Milan, whose nerves had scarcely 
recovered from the shock of the "conspiracy," called the plant- 
ers together in the "German" (Dutch Reformed.'*) church. 
There he informed them of this last "conspiracy," namely, the 
attempt to place this "rascal" Mikkelsen in the governor's seat 
"when he ought to be hanged to the highest tree." ^^ He coun- 
selled resistance, exhorted their aid, and by cajolings and 
threats secured their signatures to a document by which they 
pledged themselves to leave the land before they would see their 
governor leave them. 

But if he proposed to give battle, he must needs secure the 
sinews of war. He chose a method consistent with his nature. 
On February 17, 1686, just as the royal commissioner was ap- 
proaching the West Indian waters, the governor authorized 
Captain Daniel Moy to take the company's ship, Charlotte 
Amalia, and cruise upon the Spaniards wherever they might be 
found. With a ship scarcely seaworthy, provided with a crew 
of thirty men. Captain Moy put to sea to make war upon the 
kingdom of Spain. The Charlotte Amalia had no difficulty in 
finding a Spanish ship on the Porto Rico coast, but the latter 
vessel had the temerity to answer Captain Moy's fire, wounding 

^* Manager MS., 49, 50. 
^^ Krarup, Milan, 27. 



64 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

one man, killing another, and forcing the valiant captain to 
beat a hasty retreat to St. Thomas. It was withal an in- 
glorious ending to a sorry enterprise, and not calculated to re- 
deem the good name of the island.^'' 

The commissioners had arrived in the harbor before the 
news of the "reprisal" fiasco could reach the governor, and 
before his "valet," Moses Caille, could return from the French 
islands, whence he had been sent by the desperate governor in 
search of help.®^ Sitting in his private room and surrounded by 
all manner of firearms, the governor drew the parley out for 
three days before he finally surrendered to the king's repre- 
sentative. Mikkelsen's intimation that Milan's attitude ren- 
dered him liable to the charge of rebellion, combined with the 
fact that the men on whom he could depend were rapidly dimin- 
ishing in number, brought the governor to his knees. A guard 
consisting of twelve men from the Fortuna and twelve planters, 
all under the command of Christopher Heins, was placed at the 
fort. With his removal to the ship the reign of Gabriel Milan 
came to a sudden end. Adolph Esmit and his wife. Charity, 
likewise the company's merchant, Niels Lassen, who had been in 
prison since April 30, were taken out of their dungeons and put 
on board ship. The scene of interest, as far as the company is 
concerned, was soon to shift to Copenhagen. Nicholas Esmit had 
already lost his reason while in a Copenhagen prison waiting for 
a chance to clear himself and to bring action against his brother. 
The two successors of Nicholas were now to be given a chance to 
defend their official actions in the Danish courts and before the 
directors of the company. 

Commissioner Mikkelsen was employed from March until 
July with collecting evidence from the planters concerning 
Milan's conduct. A few extracts from a letter written by the 
oflScial reporter, Andrew Brock, to director Albert Gylden- 
sparre on June 30, 1686, just before the Fortuna sailed, will give 
an idea of the proceedings. "I wish for my part that your 
Excellency could have been here a single day and heard what 

"" Krarup, Milan, 29. 

^^ Caille's mission appears to have borne no fruit beyond arousing the Span- 
iards. 



THE CRITICAL PERIOD (1680-1690) 65 

thundering there has been in the commission, with howling, 
shouting, and screaming, one against the other, and I had to 
write it into the protocol just as fast [as they spoke] . . . but 
God be thanked it is over, and former Lieutenant Christopher 
Heins was yesterday made governor and vice commandant 
here. May God in heaven aid him to carry on his government 
better than his predecessors, which I expect him to do, as he has 
shown himself only as an honest and upright man. . . . " ^^ 

M^lan himself dictated a letter to the directors in justification 
of his conduct in which he vented his wrath on those inhabitants 
and employees who had attested to his zeal and faithfulness, but 
were now shouting, Crucify him, crucify him ! The letters of the 
two prisoners, Esmit and Lassen, which were sent over at the 
same time, bore out on the whole the testimony of the planters, 
whose sympathies were on the side of those two victims of 
Milan's wrath.^^ 

Mikkelsen left St. Thomas with his rather uncongenial com- 
pany on July 5, and did not arrive in Copenhagen until Octo- 
ber 12, 1686. Besides the two governors with their families 
and negro servants, the list of passengers included Niels Lassen, 
Gerhart Philipsen, and John Lorentz, whose testimony was 
desired in the suits. A commission was appointed within a 
week to try the case against Milan, but delays in getting the 
tangled evidence straightened prevented a decision being 
reached before November 17, 1687. An appeal to the Supreme 
Court brought further delays, but finally the case was opened 
on February 14, 1689. The judges rendered their individual 
opinions on March 14, and judgment was finally pronounced on 
March 21. The sentence was not a surprise to those who had 
followed the case. After a fair, impartial trial Gabriel Milan 
was found guilty and condemned to lose his property, honor, and 
life, and his head and hand were to be put upon a stake.^* A 
royal pardon saved him from the last grim disgrace,®^ and at 

« B. & D.. 1683-89. 

" Esmit to Directors; Lassen to same (March 13, 1686). A. E., 1682-89. 
** Ejarup, Milan, 47. 

^* Queen Charlotte Amalia had earlier befriended Madame Milan, and was 
one of the "chief participants" in the company. She had helped to mitigate 



66 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

dawn on March 26, 1689, he was beheaded on the New Square 
(Nytorv) in Copenhagen. 

Adolph Esmit's long imprisonment both on St. Thomas and 
in Copenhagen in 1686 and 1687 had given him grounds for ap- 
pearing as the injured party, and for demanding some form of 
restitution. While the Milan trial was dragging slowly on, the 
former governor and his wife seem to have been kept in prison 
in Copenhagen. From their arrival on October 12, 1686, until 
March, 1687, when Nicholas' case against his brother was 
finally ready for trial, they remained in confinement.^^ Here, as 
in the case of Milan, a commission was appointed,^'^ and al- 
though a number of petty irregularities and cases of tampering 
with accounts were found, Adolph Esmit was on November 2, 




1687, given a verdict of not guilty. On the same day, the di- 
rectors of the company actually named him governor of St. 
Thomas,^^ and a few days later a fleet of three ships, the Young 
Tobias, the Red Cock (Den Rode Hane) and the Maria left 
Copenhagen for the West Indies. Accompanying Adolph 
Esmit, and in command of the fleet, was vice-admiral Iver 
Hoppe who seems to have had secret orders to bring Esmit back 
with him to Denmark in case he proved intractable. The latter 
was evidently being given his last chance, but at best it is 
difficult to see how the directors could have hoped that a spell of 
confinement could make the leopard change his spots. A report 

Commissioner Mikkelsen's instructions, and may have used her good offices 
here. 

^^ Adolph's "brothers-in-law" Steen Andersen Bille and Jiirgen Jiirgensen 
gave bonds for his appearance. A. E., 1682-89 (March 25, 1687). 

^^ Jens Juel, Mathias Moth, Muhle and Hoyer. 

*^ One condition was that he should invest 2,000 rdl. within one year after 
he took possession at St. Thomas. 



THE CRITICAL PERIOD (1680-1690) 67 

of the Swedish ambassador at Copenhagen (Anders Leyencio) / 

dated November 11, 1687, offers an explanation for the strange 
conduct of the directors: 

"Three ships are now lying at anchor here and entirely ready 
to sail out of the harbor with the first wind. The first of these 
carries thirty, the second twelve, and the third six pieces, which 
[ships] those in charge are to take over to St. Thomas in the 
West Indies, and there install Governor Adolph Smitt [Esmit] 
who was brought here from thence as a prisoner. He has now 
been entirely acquitted of the serious charges made against him, 
but Milan [has been] condemned to lose his life, although the 
judgment has not yet been carried out. And inasmuch as said 
Smidt [Esmit] has informed the king of a scheme concerning a 
Spanish galleon, which is said to have been very heavily laden 
with silver and stranded not far from St. Thomas some forty 
years ago, Vice-admiral Hopp[e] is accompanying him with some 
divers and a lot of machines and implements with the intention 
of finding the silver. With what success it may be possible to 
report by the close of next May, especially since January and 
February, the months when the sea is most calm, are to be used 
for that purpose. Not only his Majesty, but other private 
persons, have advanced as much as 20,000 rdl. to promote this 
fishing scheme in the hope of securing a large return." ^^ 

In the February following, after the two smaller ships had 
arrived,^*' vice-governor Heins in a letter to the directors ex- 
plained the circumstances concerning the treasure ship. It lay 
on the north coast of " Spaniola," he wrote; twenty-six ships and 
sloops were gathered about the wreck until a royal English ship 
of fifty-six pieces came there and drove them all away. "We 
have received news from the English themselves that their 
captain has employed one hundred and fifty divers, and I think 
he had made a clean sweep, for many tons of gold had already 
been taken out." ^^ The incident is not without significance, for 

^^ Danske Samlinger, II R. 5 B., p. 175. 

™ The Young Tobias arrived at St. Thomas on January 29, 1688, and the Red 
Cock on February 23. The Maria with Esmit and Hoppe arrived a month 
later (March 24). 

" C. Heins to directors (February 24, 1688). B. & D., 1683-89. 



68 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

it indicated the king's wiUingness to jeopardize the interests of 
the colony by an impossible appointee for the chance of securing 
precious metal from a galleon wrecked on a Spanish coast. 

After his arrival on March 24, 1688, in the leading-strings of 
vice-admiral Hoppe, it took Adolph Esmit just three months to 
convince all concerned of his utter incapacity. On June 22, his 
quarters were moved from the fort to the ship, where they re- 
mained until he had finished his last voyage to Denmark. Be- 
fore the Maria's departure, the vice-admiral called the in- 
habitants together (July 7) and told them that he wished to 
know if Esmit's statement that he held the affection of all on 
the island was true. "If you want Adolph Esmit to become 
governor, speak now while there is yet time," the vice-admiral 
said. To this the planters all responded as with one voice, 
"No! if that should happen, we should all leave the land!" 
When asked concerning vice-governor Heins, they replied that 




they asked for no better governor .^^ This time Charity's pulling 
of wires could not avail, but she pulled at them with her wonted 
vigor to the last as the directors learned from an intercepted 
letter to her husband. ^^ Thus ended nearly a decade of weary 

"J5. & D., 1683-89. Esmit's diary (July 7, 1688). This was finished in 
another hand, apparently Lorentz's. 

'" See Appendix E, p. 303. The case against Adolph Esmit was resumed by 
the company on his return, but apparently without result, for the ship and 
goods he had sent to Flushing in 1684 were confiscated before he could get hold 
of them, so he had nothing to be seized. Early in 1689 he offered the Swedish 
ambassador in Copenhagen his services in seizing the island of St. Thomas for 
Sweden without loss of life. Nothing came of it, and on January 25, 1690, the 
case against him was finally dropped, and he was allowed to go whither he would. 
He seems to have left Denmark for Courland, after which all trace of him is lost. 



THE CRITICAL PERIOD (1680-1690) 69 

administrative turmoil. During this time three governors had 
been tried and found utterly wanting. Of dividends there had 
been no thought; the stockholders could count themselves 
fortunate that the island was still under Danish sovereignty. 

It became the business of Christopher Heins to carry out the 
work with which Adolph Esmit had been charged. Esmit had 
brought with him a lengthy series of instructions, the carrying 
out of which came to be left in the steadier hands of his 
successor, who served the company faithfully and well until 
his death on October 2, 1689. He was ably seconded by John 
Lorentz, a young man who had begun his career in St. Thomas 
as assistant in the company's office, had been in Copenhagen at 
the Milan and Esmit trials, and had returned with Adolph 
Esmit in 1688 with a commission as bookkeeper and assistant 
for the company. The young man was engaged for four 
years at a salary of 14 rdl. per month. Heins' administration ^^ 
was a quiet one if contrasted with the turbulent times when the 
Esmits and Milan held the fort. There was nothing for the 
Company to do but mark time until conditions might invite 
renewed action. As a result of a mandate issued in Esmit's 
last brief term offering eight years' exemption from taxes to 
intending settlers from other islands, a few French Huguenot 
and Dutch planters moved to St. Thomas with their negroes. 
Louis XIV's revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 was car- 
ried out by zealous Jesuits for whom distance did not dim the 
sense of duty. 

Some slight progress in planting was made during these 
troubled years. Cotton, sugar, tobacco, and indigo were sold 
by the planters to the Company, Trade with the home country 
being irregular, considerable petty trade was carried on with 
the lesser islands, with the French on St. Croix and St. Kitts, 
with the Dutch on Saba, St. Eustatius and Curasao, Besides 
planting, some of the inhabitants, as Captain Delicaet, made a 
living by fishing turtle, which were particularly numerous in the 

Vest. Reg., 1671-99 (January 25, 1690); Danske Saml., II R. 5 B., p. 297 
(March 1, 1689); H. Pflug, den danske Pillegrim, p. 1174. 

^^ Heins' council after Esmit's departure consisted of Henry Irgens, Capt. 
Delicaet, John de Windt, and John Lorentz. 



70 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

vicinity of Crab Island. The company had begun before Heins' 
time to go into the planting business, and managed to secure 
eighty slaves from one of the Guinea cargoes brought to America 
by Pauli, the secretary of the Company 7^ 

A most significant effort to start the island on the road toward 
prosperity had been made in 1685, when the Elector of Bran- 
denburg entered into a treaty with the King of Denmark, by 
which a company organized under his protection and patronage 
was to be permitted to establish a factory and a plantation at 
St. Thomas under certain conditions. Occupation had been 
begun in 1686, and hopes were entertained that the Branden- 
burg occupation might help put new life into the poor, distracted 
little colony. The accession of John Lorentz to the post of act- 
ing governor in 1696 was the beginning of an official career of 
notable efficiency which ended with the death of Lorentz in 1702. 
Although not governor during the entire interval, he never re- 
laxed his interest in the Company's welfare. The connection of 
John Lorentz with the Danish West India and Guinea Company 
as its acting head brings to an end what may properly be called 
its most critical period. 

'^ The contract was made October 26, 1686, and the slaves were delivered by 
Captain Cordt (Cort) May 14, 1687. C. H. (May 26, 1687.) 



CHAPTER III 

THE BBANDENBURGERS AT ST. THOMAS 

It will be remembered that in the second war of Louis XIV 
against the Dutch, which was ended by the treaties of Nimeguen 
(1678-1679), the Elector of Brandenburg and the King of 
Denmark-Norway were both allied with the Protestant Nether- 
lands against France and Sweden. Brandenburg, like the other 
German states, had not yet recovered from the horrors of the 
Thirty Years' War, and was distinctly to be reckoned among the 
weaker European states. That it was able to play even a small 
part in European diplomacy was due in a considerable degree to 
the energetic and capable government of Frederick William 
of HohenzoUern, the Great Elector, who was Duke of Prussia 
as well as Elector of Brandenburg. Sweden's Baltic ambi- 
tions, and particularly her possession of Western Pomerania 
on the south shores of that sea, made her a natural rival of 
Brandenburg-Prussia. The fact that Sweden was the common 
enemy of Denmark and Brandenburg would of itseK tend to 
drive the two states into an alliance. 

Early in the reign of Frederick William, Brandenburg had 
attempted, through negotiations first with Denmark, and later 
with Austria and Spain, to form a company and establish fac- 
tories in East Indian lands, but without success.^ During the 
negotiations in connection with the peace of Nimeguen, she 
had attempted to secure French support in her efforts to estab- 
lish a trade in Guinea that would survive the opposition of the 
Dutch and English companies. Her ambassador in Paris, 
Meinders, was instructed to try to secure a permanent factory 
on the Guinea coast. In a letter from Benjamin Raule, at that 
time director-in-chief for naval affairs {Oberdirektor in Seesachen) 
he was urgently requested to "labor energetically to bring 

^ R. Schiick, Brandenburg-Preussens Kolonial Politik . . . \,% et seq., 48 et 
seq. The attempt was made to buy the Danish factory of Dansborg in 1647. 
Ibid.. 19. 

[71] 



72 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

about the sanction [of France] to lands," and be willing to make 
considerable sacrifices by way of reciprocal trade privileges. 
The French, however, did not consider Brandenburg trade of 
sufficient importance to be worth the trouble of a treaty.^ 

The first proposal to establish a Brandenburg African com- 
pany appears to have been made by Benjamin Raule in Decem- 
ber, 1679. It was to this Dutchman, more than to any other 
one man, that the interest of Brandenburg in Guinea and the 
West Indies during the last two decades of the seventeenth 
century is due. Raule was born at Flushing (Vhssingen) in 
Zeeland, and had become, before the outbreak of war with 
France, a shipowner on a large scale (Grossreeder), and a coun- 
cilor in the nearby town of Middelburg. In the naval war of 
1672 he was practically ruined, and in the war that followed 
Sweden's invasion of the Mark of Brandenburg he sought to re- 
coup his fortunes by serving the Elector as a privateer. On the 
conclusion of peace the Elector made him director-in-chief for 
naval affairs, and in 1681 he became director-general of marine 
with the rank of colonel. A man of restless activity and bold 
imagination, he was brimful of schemes for promoting the 
commerce of Brandenburg-Prussia. At one time it was an East 
India Company, at another an Iceland company, and now it was 
a company for trading with the Guinea and Angola coasts in 
"wax, gold, ivory, grain, blacks, and whatever the coast pro- 
duces." ^ In June, 1677, before the French had concluded their 
treaty with the Dutch, he had offered to lead a privateering 
expedition against the French and another agamst Spain, the 
latter for the purpose of securing the equivalent in ships for the 
subsidies promised by Spain to Brandenburg in a treaty made 
in 1674. That, he argued, would cause not only the Spaniards, 
but the entire world to open their eyes in astonishment at the 
Elector's sea power, and would lead French, Swedes, and Dutch 
to try to make commercial treaties with him.^ 

" Schtick, I, 135, 136. Raule had proposed engaging in the Guinea trade 
and having the Elector participate with him when he was first called to Berlin 
in 1676. Ibid.. 137. 

» Ibid., II, 89-94. 

* Ibid., I, 98, 99, 112. 



THE BRANDENBURGERS AT ST. THOMAS 73 

Frederick William I fell in readily enough with Raule's plan. 
The Peace of Nimeguen prevented any attempt against the 
French, but the rest of Raule's program was actually attempted 
in 1680, when two expeditions were sent out, one to Spanish- 
American waters, and the other to the Guinea coast. As the 
America-bound fleet of six ships of war and one "Brenner," 
(fireship?) sailed by Copenhagen and through the Sound in 
August, 1680, the curious inhabitants never dreamed that they 
were gazing at the embryo of an imperial German navy that was 
destined to become in two centuries the dominant naval factor 
in the Baltic sea.^ After sending back two vessels with a Spanish 
prize captured near Ostend, the remaining four vessels proceeded 
westward. 

"About 20th December last," wrote Sir Henry Morgan, 
deputy governor of Jamaica, to his master early in 1681, "ar- 
rived here four small frigates, between sixteen and thirty guns, 
under the command of four Flushingers, Captain Cornelius 
Reers, Admiral, belonging to the Duke (sic) of Brandenburg, 
having letters of reprisal against the Spaniard." ^ The failure 
of the fleet to accomplish more than the capture of a few smaU 
prizes was ascribed by the Swedish ambassador at Copenhagen, 
in a letter written to his government four years after the event,^ 
to the fact "that the Elector had no harbor in America, and 
that therefore the fleet was forced to return with its mission un- 
performed." This letter was written at the time when the 
Danish company was at its lowest ebb, and while the negotia- 
tions that ended in the Brandenburgers securing a factory site 
at St. Thomas were in progress. The Guinea expedition from 
Brandenburg landed in 1680 at Cape Three Points and on 
May 16, 1681, the Elector's representatives made a treaty with 
three of the native chiefs.^ This was followed by the establish- 

^ The fleet was equipped with 165 guns, and had a crew of 519 sailors and 
180 soldiers. Schiick, I, 114 et seq. 

6 Cal. Col, 1681-85, No. 13 (January 27, 1681). 

^ Danshe Saml., II R. 5 B., p. 145. Report of Leyenclo, October 16, 1685. 
The letter mentions the report that Denmark would likely cede Crab Island or 
St. John to the Elector. 

8 SchUck, I, 313, and II, 199 (No. 51a). The text of the treaty is quoted in 
full in Vol. II. 



74 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

ment in December, 1682, of the first Brandenburg factory, just 
east of the Dutch station at El Mina, near the former Branden- 
burg landing place; they named their station "Den Grossen 
Friedrichsberg." ^ 

In February, 1684, they occupied Accada, just to the east of 
their first factory, and in January, 1685, a place called Tacca- 
rary. They lost the latter to the Dutch, the leading traders on 
this part of the coast, in 1687, and in its place the Brandenbur- 
gers took up a station at Tacrama (or Tacerma), not far from 
Cape Three Points, which they named Fort Sophie Louise. 

In planning to secure a West Indian factory where they could 
dispose of the human part of their Guinea cargoes, the Branden- 
burgers were following the lead of the Enghsh, Dutch, French, 
Swedes, Danes, and Courlanders. Despite threats and acts of 
violence by the Dutch West India Company against the Bran- 
denburg factors Raule proceeded with his Guinea plans, which 
he promoted with the help of disaffected shareholders of the 
Dutch company. Some extracts from Raule's letters to the 
Elector will show what was transpiring. "John Pedy writes me 
from Rotterdam," he remarks in 1681 (August 16.?) "that the 
Messrs. Coy mans and Van Belle from Holland, who are two of 
the leading contractors with the Dutch West India Company 
and deliver to it six thousand slaves annually, have informed 
him on the quiet that they would be glad to consider entering 
into a contract with me instead of with the company, provided 
it would be possible to arrange matters with the Danish crown, 
so that either we could buy their place St. Thomas or secure full 
and free permission to bring slaves to the island." Pedy's 
suggestion prompted Raule to propose bringing the matter 
before the Danish court. "Pedy and I and our company would 
be able, I believe," Raule wrote, "with the help of the said Van 
Belle and Coymans to bring together 40,000 florins, of which we 
would present half to the Danes on condition that half of the 
returns [from the capital invested] should go to Copenliagen 
[apparently in return for the use of St. Thomas], and the other 
half to Konigsberg. I believe that if it were properly inau- 

9 Schiick, I, 314 et seq. This factory is referred to by Lucas (ii, 68) and others 
as Fredericksburg. 



THE BRANDENBURGERS AT ST. THOMAS 75 

gurated we would be able to put the scheme through. And the 
[Dutch] West India Company would thereby be entirely ruined. 
And we should then be able to send twenty-five ships out from 
this land each year and develop a very large trade, indeed bring 
much fine silver to you and marked advantage to your subjects. 
But everything must be done under the authority of your 
Electoral Highness and the King. That would promote friend- 
ship between you and him. I should very much like to hear 
the opinion of your Electoral Highness upon the matter." ^° 

Four years later, the negotiations with Denmark were taken 
up in earnest. To Raule and those interested with him it was 
becoming clearer and clearer that a permanent station in the 
West Indies was necessary to make the Guinea trade profitable. 
"Every one knows," wrote Raule to the Elector on October 26, 
1685, "that the slave trade is the source of the wealth which the 
Spaniards bring out of the West Indies, and that whoever knows 
how to furnish them slaves, will share their wealth. Who can 
say by how many millions of hard cash the Dutch West India 
Company has enriched itself in this slave trade!" " 

Raule had tried in vain during the previous year to buy or 
lease the French islands of St. Vincent and St. Croix,^^ and he 
was now ready to take up negotiations with Denmark. Inas- 
much as two of the recently appointed governors of the Com- 
pany at St. Thomas were at that time in custody, and the last 
appointed, Gabriel Milan, was about to be displaced, the Danish 
company was likely to favor anything that would promise a 
regular income for the shareholders.^"^ Inquiries were in fact 
begun in March, 1684, when Raule and von Knyphausen, repre- 
senting the Berlin and East Friesland shareholders in the new 
company, were deputed to sound the Danish court and see 
whether it would permit the establishment on St. Thomas of a 
few "lodges" and negro stations {Logen and Negereien) on the 

"> Schuck, 1, 148. 

" Ibid., I, 192. 

>2 Ibid.. I, 192. 

" Schiick's statement (I, 193) that no news had come out of St. Thomas for 
three years will not hold, though its trade certainly "lag damals beinahe vollig 
darnieder." 



76 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

condition of paying to the Danish company two slaves out of 
each hundred brought in. 

In 1685, when Raule betook himself to Copenhagen with 
instructions from the Elector, negotiations moved rapidly for- 
ward. He was to try to purchase or lease St. Thomas, or at 
least make it accessible to Brandenburg ships, because, as his 
instructions said, without the slave trade to America the 
African company cannot make any headway {nicht emergiren 
kann)}^ Jens Juel, the chief director of the Danish com- 
pany, opposed the Brandenburg plan from the first,^^ so Raule 
had to work through such other men of influence as chancellor 
(Storkansler) Frederick Ahlefeldt, Count Ulrik Frederick Gyl- 
denlove, councilors Conrad Bierman and Conrad Reventlow.^^ 
In an audience granted on October 13, 1685, Raule learned that 
the king favored a union of the two companies. ^^ Shortly 
thereafter, Raule and Gyldensparre, a director with Juel in 
the Danish company, conferred at Hadersleben in Schleswig, 
and prepared a scheme of union ^^ based upon the king's ex- 
pressed desire. It was proposed that the Danes should retain 
their stations in Guinea (Cape Coast) and the West Indies 
(Christiansfort on St. Thomas), and the Brandenburgers like- 
wise their Guinea stations of Great Fredericksburg {Gross- 
Friedrichsberg) and Accada; that both groups should share the 
garrisoning of these stations on equal terms. Cape Coast was 
to be the African headquarters. A governor-general elected by 
both companies in common was to reside in Copenhagen, and 
he was to have the supreme command over the garrisons in 
those places; an officer known as "chief in commercial matters" 
was to be selected by the Elector; Calvinists and Lutherans | 
were to have free exercitium religionis on St. Thomas, and ' 
Catholics and Jews were to be tolerated and allowed to hold 
private services, provided they permitted no scandala. Two 

" SchUck, I, 193. His instructions were dated September 25, 1685. 
" Ibid., I, 194, note 185. 

^* Ibid., I, 194, note 183. Bierman was created Count von Ehrenschild in 
1681. 
" Ibid., I, 194. 
» Ibid., 194, 195. 



THE BRANDENBURGERS AT ST. THOMAS 77 

chambers, the one to be in Copenhagen and the other in 
Emden, each composed of three shareholders, and the whole to 
be presided over by Raule, were to constitute the governing 
board. In case of war the colonies should be considered as neu- 
tral territory. Private individuals were to be entirely excluded 
from the colonial trade. 

The Elector refused to sanction this scheme of union, and 
after much trouble, including the bestowal of "gifts" by Raule 
upon influential persons, a treaty was finally concluded on 
November 24, 1685, which in effect laid down the terms on 
which the Brandenburg African Company should be allowed to 
do business in St. Thomas. ^^ As the bulk of the shareholders 
came from East Friesland and Emden, that city became the 
business headquarters of the company .^° Supplemental agree- 
ments were made on March 5 ^^ and October 2,^^ 1686. The 
treaty should remain in force for thirty years, reckoning from 
the time that the first ship with men and materials was sent 
thither,^^ and might then be renewed by mutual agreement. 
Sovereignty over St. Thomas and the surrounding islands was to 
reside in the King of Denmark. The Brandenburgers were to 
receive a plantation ground of sufficient size to employ two hun- 
dred negroes, and this land was to be exempt from taxes during 
the first three years, reckoning from the time that the first ship 
with building materials and necessaries arrived in St. Thomas; ^* 
after that time they were to pay five pounds of tobacco or its 
equivalent as an annual tax on each hundred square feet of land 
thus occupied. This loosely drawn provision, which was re- 
ferred to in the opening paragraphs of both of the supplemental 
"declarations" of 1686, was to become the pivotal point in the 

"^^.SchiJck, 1, 197. The text in the original German is given in ibid., II, 257 
et seq. The Great Elector ratified the treaty on December 19, 1685, and Chris- 
tian V ratified it on June 5, 1686. 

2" Ibid.. I, 174. 

^' See "Declaration zu dem Vertrage wegen St. Thomas vom Si. November 1685" 
in ibid., II, 278-281. 

^^ See "Fernere Declaration . . ." in ibid., II, 293-295. 

» Ibid., II, 258 (If 3). 

2^ Ibid., II, 258, 259 (Ifs 2, 5, 6). Schuck (I, 197) seems to have confused 3 
and 5 in discussing the time from which the 30 year period was to be reckoned. 



78 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

vexatious troubles that shortly arose between the representa- 
tives of the two companies. ^^ 

On all products exported from St. Thomas, the Brandenburg 
African Company was to pay the Danish company five per 
cent, in kind (in natura); ^^ on slaves imported, one per cent., on 
those sold or shipped out of the land, two per cent.^^ The con- 
tract provided further that all goods coming in or going out 
were to be subject to a weighing fee of one pound of sugar or its 
equivalent for each one hundred pounds. ^^ Provision was made 
for the settlement of disputes in which subjects of both states 
were involved. ^^ To the Danes the greatest promise held out by 
the treaty was contained in the paragraphs dealing with the 
plantation which they expected the Brandenburgers to estab- 
lish, and which, with poll taxes, weighing fees, export and im- 
port dues, was calculated to yield a moderate return upon the 
Danish company's capital stock. To the Germans, the Guinea 
trade was the main consideration; they seem from the first not 
to have looked upon the plantation idea as anything obligatory 
for them.^*^ 

Raule's dream that an investment of 150,000 Thaler should 
be able to yield a million in two or three years ^^ was going to be 
rudely shattered when the application of the treaty was to put 
to the test his diplomatic ability; and the stubborn obstacle that 
blocked the way to friendly intercourse was to be the provision 
which demanded or did not demand the establishment of a 
plantation, according to the reader's predilections. What the 
treaty really did was to raise up on St. Thomas a rival to the 
Danish company which still might deal in slaves if it desired, 
and which already owned and managed a couple of good-sized 
plantations. So long as the respective fields of the two com- 
panies were not strictly limited by agreement, there would be 

2* For the Company's viewpoint see the directors' instructions to A. Esmit, 
November 9, 1687. A. E., 1682-89. 
26Schiick, II, 259(117). 
" Ibid., II. 260 (1[ 8). 
2« Ibid., II, 260 (If 10). 

29 Ibid., II, 261 (1[ 15, H 16, If 17). 

30 Ihid., I, 231. 
" lUd., I, 195. 



I 



THE BRANDENBURGERS AT ST. THOMAS 79 

trouble about in proportion to the vitality developed by the 
two companies. A second and serious occasion for friction lay 
in the provision which made the Brandenburg company respon- 
sible to the Danish company for whatever damage might result 
from carrying on "a dangerous trade" with foreign nations. ^^ 
This was to protect the Danes against complications from 
Brandenburg encouragement of privateering. Denmark could ill 
afford being dragged into trouble with Spain through circum- 
stances over which she had no control. 

The first director of the Brandenburg factory at St. Thomas 
was one Laporte whose knowledge of French and whose business 
shrewdness made him well suited to his task. He left Emden in 
August, 1686, on the Marschall Dorfling ^^ which Captain John 
Catt had taken out from Pillau in Prussia and passed Elsinore 
early in June.^* Captain Catt arrived in St. Thomas via Guinea 
on November 23. The Falcon dropped anchor on the 24th.^^ 
Meanwhile the Peace, Captain Jacob Lambrecht, was sent out 
with four other vessels, — all of them with Danish passes — ^to 
the Guinea coast for slaves. So confident was Raule of success 
that he had sent out the ships without consulting the share- 
holders.^^ 

Before the Falcon had left St. Thomas with its cargo of sugar, 
cotton, cacao, etc.,^^ the vice-governor, Christopher Heins, had 
had a disagreement with M. Laporte regarding the payment of 
export and import duties and the use of the Danish company's 
scales for weighing the goods shipped in or out by the Branden- 
burgers.^^ Strict insistence by the Danes on the latter point 

»2 Schuck. n, 266 (1[ 35). 

'^ Also referred to as the " Feldmarschall Derflinger," Schiick, I, 206; Laporte's 
name is variously given as La Porte, Delaporte. 

" Oresundtoldboger for 1686. 

35 Heins to directors, January 4, 1687. B. & D., 1683-89. 

"^ Schuck, I, 206. 

" The cargo as reported by the vice-governor,. Heins, was as follows: 64,581 
lbs. sugar, 7,250 lbs. cotton, 1,430 lbs. cacao, 1,024 lbs. tobacco, 55 lbs. confituren 
(sweetmeats?), 21 lbs. Caret (seaturtle), 20 lbs. " Bastar-Canel" (a sort of spice 
resembling cinnamon), 566 pieces of pockwood, and 220 tons of other wood. 
Heins to directors. May 26, 1687. C. H., 1685-89. 

38 IMd. 



80 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

gave them a very definite idea of what their neighbors in St. 
Thomas were doing. The Brandenburgers seem never to have 
entertained seriously the idea of actually establishing a bona 
fide plantation. Neither Laporte nor Moses Caille, who acted 
as deputy director on Laporte's visit to Berlin in 1688, were 
willing to admit the soundness of the Danish interpretation. 
On the pretext that they must await instructions from home 
before taking up plantation ground, they kept the Danish 
officials in suspense until their impatience was turned into a 
suspicion that the Brandenburgers were looking for a chance to 
seize the entire island. The vigor with which the Brandenburg 
authorities pushed their business in procuring slaves and dis- 
posing of them on St. Thomas and the surrounding islands (as 
St. Eustatius) aroused the fears of the Danes who were receiving 
next to no assistance from the Company. The fact that the 
planters became indebted to the Brandenburg company led the 
Danes to fear that in case of trouble the planters might side 
with the foreign company. ^^ 

The persistent annoyances to which the Brandenburgers were 
subjected led them to attempt the occupation or purchase of 
neighboring islands. They tried to secure Crab Island, but the 
Danes laid vigorous claim to it, and the Spaniards sent ships 
around at intervals to drive off such settlers as they might find 
there.^" The Brandenburgers finally did take possession of St. 
Peter, an appropriately named rocky islet just northwest of 
St. John, but it was ill adapted to their purposes. ^^ Except for 
the refusal of the English to give up their claims to the island, 
they might have secured Tobago, near Trinidad, from the 
Duke of Courland. The negotiations were begun early in 1687, 
but the duke's rather shady title and the opposition of the 
Dutch made it impracticable to push the matter to a conclusion 
at that time.^^ 

The death of vice-governor Heins in October, 1689, and the 
election of John Lorentz to take his place, did not improve the 

" Heins to Directors, (September 2, 1687). C. H.. 1685-89 (?) 
*> Schiick, I, 233. 

<i Heins to Directors (August 20, 1689). B. & D.. 1683-89. 
« Schiick, I. 207. 



THE BRANDENBURGERS AT ST. THOMAS 81 

position of the Brandenburgers nor the relations between the 
two companies. Within a fortnight after his election Lorentz 
issued an order forbidding the Brandenburgers to bring any 
privateers or prizes into St. Thomas harbor. ^^ This was in 
strict accordance with paragraph 35 of the treaty, ^^ and with 
Denmark's neutral position in the European struggle (War of the 
Augsburg League or "King William's War") which was just 
beginning; hence it could not reasonably be objected to; but 
when on November 7 he issued a mandate forbidding the Danish 
inhabitants from buying any wares from the Brandenburgers' 
magazine that could be found in stock at the Danish company's 
warehouse, and further forbade the payment of debts to the 
Brandenburgers until the debts to the Company had been 
satisfied, there was reason for the Brandenburgers to feel appre- 
hensive.^^ The most trifling complaint against the rival com- 
pany became the subject of solemn investigation by the zealous 
governor.^^ Laporte naturally looked towards the planters for 
moral support. They had two representatives in the governor's 
council and would expect to benefit from the presence of two 
rival companies on the island. The result was that government 
and colony were soon divided into two rival camps, each affect- 
ing to suspect the worst of the other. 

In Copenhagen the administrative tangles of the Company 
had been partly solved when Milan had been decapitated in 
March, 1689. From the West Indies the shareholders had re- 
ceived great numbers of complaints and countercharges, but no 
dividends on their shares. The directors were consequently 
ready by this time to relieve the Company from further expense 
and were eager to consider any proposal that could assure it a 
moderate return on its investment from this time on. On 
July 27, 1689, a life lease was granted to Nicholas Jansen Arff, 
by which he secured the right to use Christiansborg, the Danish 

^' Lorentz' s Journal (October 19, 1689). 

4* Schuck, II, 267. 

^^ Lorentz' s Journal (November 7, 1689); P. B. 0., 1683-1728 (November 7, 
1689). 

^ C. B., 1690-1713. See especially Lorentz's letters to the directors in 1696 
and 1697. 



82 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

"castle" on the Guinea coast, and to carry on the slave trade 
with the West Indies, on the payment to the Company of a 
two per cent, duty.^^ This was followed on February 13, 1690, 
by a contract with a reputable and venturesome Bergen mer- 
chant. Councilor of Commerce (Commerce-Raad) George 
Thormohlen of Mohlenpriis, who leased St. Thomas from the 
Company for a period of ten years. He was to pay 4,630 sldl. 
each year, which was just four per cent, of the 115,750 sldl. 
capital entered on the books of the Company.^^ By these two 
contracts the management of both the Guinea and West India 
ends of the Company's business went into the hands of private 
proprietors. The result of this experiment will be discussed in 
a later chapter. 

Before the news of these changes could be received at St. 
Thomas, and before Lorentz had received a request from Thor- 
mohlen to remain at his post until further orders, the vice- 
governor was preparing to bring the matter of the contested 
land rental to a definite settlement in the Company's favor, if 
necessary, by force. He was proceeding according to secret 
instructions from the directors in Copenhagen.^® The rental 
which was calculated upon the current price of tobacco was 
estimated at 20,000 rdl. annually, that is, more than six times 
the rental fixed in the Thormohlen contract.^ If strictly en- 
forced it would spell ruin, which was apparently precisely what 
was intended. 

The efforts of Danish statesmen were at this time applied 
toward keepmg Denmark from becoming involved in the 
European war. A defensive alliance between Denmark and 
Sweden was negotiated February, 1690, and a treaty of com- 
merce and navigation for the mutual protection of their trade 

^^ Vest. Reg., 1670-99 (July 27, 1689). The slave trade had been carried on in 
the few years immediately preceding by ships sailing from Gliickstadt. A Por- 
tuguese (?) Jew, Moses Joshua Henriques, was appointed factor in Gliickstadt 
for ships sailing to Guinea on April 27, 1686. Arff's ships were to sail from 
Copenhagen. Rothe, Rescri-pter, II. 

*8 C. B., 1690-1713. Thormohlen himself wrote his name TJior Mohien. 

^^ Lorentz' s Journ. (November 24, 1690); directors to Lorentz (December 22, 
1691); C. B., 1690-1713. 

60 Ibid. (December 5, 1691). 



THE BRANDENBURGERS AT ST. THOMAS 83 

was concluded in the following year.^^ In the same year (1691) 
Denmark made a secret treaty with France in which she agreed 
to maintain neutrality during the war.^^ Because of Denmark's 
suspected leaning toward France early in the war Raule had 
counseled the new Elector, Frederick III, who had succeeded 
his father at the latter 's death in 1688, to make reprisals upon 
Danish commerce through Zeeland privateers, a proposal which 
it was found impracticable to carry out.^^ With these and other 
European complications threatening, the Brandenburg African 
Company could scarcely be expected to show a flourishing 
state of prosperity. Between their Dutch neighbors on the 
Guinea coast and jealous Danish oflBcials at St. Thomas the 
prospects were far from alluring. In a report sent out from 
Emden on August 22, 1690, by the two Brandenburg ad- 
miralty colleges and Raule,^* three causes were mentioned as 
having impeded the prosperity of the Company, namely: the 
persecutions of the Dutch West India Company,^^ the 
scant sums of money flowing into the marine department 
treasury, and the difllculties caused by their Danish hosts at 
St. Thomas.^^ 

On St. Thomas, an atmosphere of suspicion pervaded every- 
thing. On the last day of October Lorentz declined an invita- 
tion to a banquet given by director-general Laporte, for he felt 
that it was to be merely a meeting of Laporte's adherents among 
the planters, — his "creatures." Among those suspected of dis- 
loyalty to the Danish company were two members of the gov- 

" D. R. H., IV, 660, 661. This treaty (with additions made in March, 1693) 
is notable as being the first instance of an armed neutrality for the protection 
of neutral commerce. 

62 Ibid. 

" Schuck, I, 230. 

6* Raule was discredited for a time following the Great Elector's death, but 
by 1690 he had regained some of his former influence. The troubled career of 
Raule and the internal strife that marked the government of the Brandenburg 
company fall outside of the scope of the present study. 

^6 The seizure by the Dutch of the two Guinea factories of Accada and Tac- 
carary was the subject of negotiations from 1690 to 1694, when the arbitrating 
board awarded the Brandenburg company a substantial sum in damages. 
Schiick, I, il8 et seq. 

« Ibid., I, 231. 



84 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

ernor's council, Captain Delicaet ^"^ and Lawrence Westerbaen, 
the latter a refugee from St. Eustatius. Every remark of these 
men that might possibly be unfavorably construed was carefully 
noted by Lorentz in his diary. At a meeting of the council 
called by the governor with a view to ascertaining how these 
men stood. Captain Delicaet was quoted as having declared: 
"It is a difficult matter, for we have to do, not with common 
people, but with lords and princes." The governor informed 
him significantly that he would know well enough what was 
proper to do when the time for the payment approached. 
Among the planters the governor worked cautiously, drawing 
the loyal ones among them still more closely to his side. He 
was fully determined to be prepared "in case any should be 
inclined to rebellion." ^ 

The time limit |or the payment of the tax according to Lor- 
entz's calculations was November 23; so on the 24th the latter 
called the council together again and had an itemized bill 
prepared for 20,000 rdl. 463^ styvers. This bill together 
with a letter was taken by the two professedly loyal coun- 
cilors ^^ to Laporte on November 25. Two days later the 
director-general came before the council to read his reply in 
which he stated his reasons for refusing payment. The main 
argument advanced was that he had no orders from his chiefs to 
make any such payment.®" After Laporte's departure the coun- 
cil decided, in view of the expected arrival on any day of three 
Brandenburg ships,®^ to institute judicial condemnatory pro- 
ceedings after three days' elapse. Finally, on December 2 
(O. S.), 1690, came the day of reckoning, when the vice-governor 
and his council marched over to the Brandenburg warehouse, 

^^ Captain Delicaet, scenting trouble, had left on the day of the banquet. " Ah 
hat er sich Reversiren viussen innerhalb H. Tage wiederumb einzustellen; Wcile 
cs seine Gewohnheit war, wann elwas wichtiges solte vorgcnomcn werden da er sich 
in mitlerweile an seite hielte." Lorentz' s Journal (October 13, 1690). 

58 Ibid. (November 14 and 17, 1690). 

^5 Thomas Berentsen and the secretary Joachim von Holten. Ibid. (Novem- 
ber 25. 1690). 

''» Ibid. (November 27, 1690). 

" Raule had sent 3 ships (Churprincess, Salamander, and Drache) to Guinea, 
and 2 {Churprinz and Fuchs) to St. Thomas. Schiick, I, 231 (note 53). 



THE BRANDENBURGERS AT ST. THOMAS 85 

with the Company's smith to break the lock, and a committee 
of inhabitants, mainly planters, to appraise the condemned 
goods .^^ On Laporte's refusal to accede to the council's formal 
demand to open the magazine and after vigorous protests and 
appeals by the Brandenburgers the doors were forcibly opened 
and the appraisal begun. Lorentz carefully notes in his journal 
Laporte's remark to Delicaet and Berentsen that "if they (the 
Brandenburgers) were as strong in the land as we (the Danes) 
we should not have done what we did." He quotes this as an 
evidence of their "good(!) intentions" and of "what they had 
up their sleeves." ^^ By Christmas Eve, two of the Brandenburg 
warehouses had practically been emptied of all their sugar and 
cotton.^* The value was estimated by the director-general at 
24,652 pieces-of-eight, remarkable precision, considering that 
he had refused to send a representative to participate in the 
weighing.®^ 

The seizure was not carried out without a certain danger to 
the colony. Meetings were held on the quiet at the houses of 
various planters, and were attended by the Brandenburg offi- 
cials. At some of these gatherings anti-Company indignation 
found vent. Thomas Berentsen, one of Lorentz's most trusted 
councilors, who tried to investigate one of these meetings, found 
Laporte and all the Brandenburg employees there as well as an 
English captain from St. Kitts, one "Callehan" and several 
planters. Laporte himself forced Berentsen out through the 
door, uttered sundry threats against the Danes and accused 
him of being one of the demons of the Brandenburgers.^^ The 
proposal to seize the Brandenburg houses and slaves was con- 
sidered by the vice-governor and council, but was finally dropped 
as inexpedient.®^ 

Three Brandenburg ships, the frigates Electoral Prince and 
Salamander, and a snow arrived in St. Thomas harbor on 

^^ Francis (Frans) Martens, Lucas Volckers, Adrian (Ariaen) Sorgeloos, and 
Jacob Elias. Lorentz's Journal (December 2, 1690). 
62 Ibid. 
6* Ibid. (December 24, 1690). 

65 Ibid. (December 2/12, and December 8/18, 1690); Schuck, I, 232. 

66 Lorentz's Journal (December 19, 1690). 
6^ Ibid. (December 30, 1690). 



86 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

March 7, having on board about four hundred men, and pro- 
vided with a commission to seize French ships .^^ The arrival of 
the three vessels set numerous rumors afloat concerning their 
intentions; but their passports had been issued on August 18 
preceding, over three months before the seizure of the sugar and 
cotton, hence any action they might have taken would have 
been entirely upon the authority of the captains and the St. 
Thomas officials of their company. As it was, Laporte conJSned 
himself to repeating his request for restitution of the confiscated 
goods and to making an oflfer of forty marines to supplement the 
weak garrison at the fort, both of which overtures were firmly 
but politely declined by Lorentz. The latter even sent in a 
further claim of his own for the balance of the rental, his esti- 
mate falling considerably short of that of the director-general.®^ 
The vessels left in a little over a month with only a part of the 
expected cargoes.^" 

Meanwhile a Brandenburg bark had left St. Thomas on 
January 8 to carry the news of the Danish company's violence 
to Emden and Berlin.^^ With that the scene of interest shifts 
from St. Thomas to Copenhagen, whither by June the Branden- 
burg envoy Falaiseau had betaken himself to demand on behalf 
of his master the recall of Lorentz and the punishment of the 
guilty parties .^^ Christian V hastened to send a letter to Lorentz 
(June 20) asking for an explanation and for the necessary docu- 
ments. When in September the news came that Lorentz had 
seized the Electoral Princess and her cargo of slaves new force 
was added to the former complaint, and to persons outside of 
official circles it began to look as if the Esmit-Milan drama was 
to be acted over again in a revised version with Laporte in 
Stapleton's role. 

The distance and the slowness of communication between the 
home government and the West Indian factories were bound to 

'^» Lorentz' s Journal (March 7, 1691); Cal. Col.. 1689-92. No. 1382 (April 3. 
1691). A snow is a two-masted, square rigged vessel. 

«3 Ibid. (March 10 and 17, 1691); Host (p. 34) says sixty. 

'» Ibid. (April 10. 1691). Cf. Schiick (I, 232), who asserts that they had to 
return empty. 

^1 Ibid. (January 8, 1691). 

" Schiick, I, 232. 



THE BRANDENBURGERS AT ST. THOMAS 87 

delay final action many months. The problem for the Danish 
government was no easy one, for it was forced officially to dis- 
avow the violence of its representative who had been guilty of 
nothing worse than carrying out the orders of the Company's 
directorsJ^ The loosely drawn provisions in the treaty of 1685 
were the main obstacles to satisfactory settlement. As the 
Elector's envoy Falaiseau and his colleague expressed it, "if 
M. Raule had drawn up a clearer contract, he would have spared 
us considerable trouble, but it is all over now." ^^ The exigencies 
of the war had nevertheless forced the two states to consider a 
closer alliance, so a temporary settlement of the St. Thomas 
difficulties was hastily concluded on April 11/21, and ratffied by 
Christian V on April 23 (O. S.), 1692. A supplementary agree- 
ment of June 10/20 fixed the mode in which payment should be 
carried out.^^ It was arranged that the seized goods, the value 
of which was fixed at 16,000 rdl., should be restored to the 
Brandenburg company with such other seizures of ships or 
goods as might have been made thereafter; and that for the next 
three years the Brandenburg African Company should pay 
3,000 rdl. annually in lieu of all other sums due or claimed, the 
sum to be paid yearly to the Danish company through the Ham- 
burg bank. 

The difficulties with the Danish authorities at St. Thomas had 
led the Brandenburg government to make renewed efforts to 
secure an independent foothold in the West Indies. Again they 
tried to take possession of Crab Island, but when the Branden- 
burg party arrived there on December 19, 1692, they found the 
Danes already on the ground and their Dannebrog banner 

'^ The close association between government and commercial enterprise in 
Denmark at this time is indicated in a statement by Hugh Greg, secretary of the 
English legation in Copenhagen, made in a letter to George Stepney, secretary 
of the Berlin legation, that "all the ministers here are merchants." Danske 
Samlinger, 2 R. IV, 212. The directors' orders to Lorentz were issued April 9, 
1690. Manager MS., 93. 

''* Falaiseau and Worckum to Frederick III. Schiick, I, 233, n. 63 (Febru- 
ary 6/16, 1692). 

^^ Ibid., II, 398 (No. 137a; Interims-Vergleich mit Ddnemark wegen St. Thomas) ; 
403 (No. 137b: Danische Ratifikation) ; 405 (No. 137c: Neben Rezess zum Interims- 
Vergleich). 



88 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

defiantly waving above themJ® John Lorentz, who continued in 
office ad interim until the proprietor Thormohlen could provide a 
governor, had sent a captain with some men to Crab Island a 
few days before the Brandenburg bark made its landing. 
Though Laporte spread rumors threatening forcible seizure of 
the island, no further serious efforts were made in that direc- 
tion/^ The Tobago negotiations were renewed and a treaty 
made with Duke Frederick Casimir who had only recently mar- 
ried the Elector Frederick's sister, Elizabeth Sophie; but Eng- 
land still refused to give up her claims to the island/^ St. 
Eustatius likewise came in for attempts. The French had 
captured it from the Dutch in 1689, but had been forced in 1690 
to surrender it to the English,^^ who in turn delivered it up to the 
Dutch in 1692.^ The English were naturally unwilling to give 
up an island originally belonging to an ally; ^^ and of course the 
Dutch had no desire to surrender their most valuable slave 
trading factory in the Leeward Islands. 

This series of untoward experiences had had depressing ef- 
fects upon the financial state of the Brandenburg company. 
At the close of 1691 it was practically bankrupt, so the Elector 
Frederick decided in the beginning of the following year to re- 
organize it on the plan of the Dutch East and West India 
Companies .^^ This was the aim in the octroi of February 27,^'^ 
and in the "new octroi" granted on September 14/24, 1692. The 
latter gave the " Brandenburg- African- American Company" 
the right not only to conclude alliances, but to wage defensive 
warfare, to make peace, and to privateer against the ships of the 
Elector's enemies on a payment of ten per cent, of the prize 
money into his treasury.^* In a report on the state of the com- 

'^ Schiick, 1, 233. Dannebrog is the popular designation for the flag of Denmark. 

" Lorentz to directors (June 6, 1693). C. B., 1690-1713. 

7» Schiick, I, 234. 

^9 Cal. Col., 1689-92, Nos. 65 (April 3, 1689), 1004 (August 3, 1690). 

«•) Ibid., No. 2010 (January 14, 1692). 

81 Schiick, I, 235. Cf. "Neues Okiroi . . ." of September 14/24, 1692 (f4), 
in Schuck, II, 417. 

82 Ibid., I, 236 et seq., II, 385 et seq. (No. 135a), 393 et seq. (No. 135b). 
S3 Ibid., II, 385 et seq. 

^* Ibid., II, 416 et seq. 



THE BRANDENBURGERS AT ST. THOMAS 89 

pany issued in August, 1692, the resources were found to be 
415,944 rdl., 8 st., the liabilities, 333,555 rdl., 4 st., and the cash 
balance, 82,389 rdl., 4 st?^ Strenuous efforts were made to 
fulfill the oft disappointed hopes of the stockholders. Six ships 
were sent out in August, five in December, and three more in 
1693 to Guinea and the West Indies. An asiento or contract 
for the delivery of slaves was made with Spain and promised 
large profits.^® But the efforts of the Brandenburgers exceeded 
their available means, dissension reappeared in the ranks of the 
shareholders, and by 1694 the Company was again in serious 
straits. The attempt to secure the island of Tortola just north- 
east from St. John in 1695 was frustrated by the refusal of the 
English government to guarantee the Brandenburgers posses- 
sion or to sell the Enghsh claims .^^ 

By April, 1695, the three-year provisional treaty with Den- 
mark had expired and 9,000 rdl. were due the Danish company, 
whose proprietor Thormohlen was to be credited with that 
amount .^^ But the latter had already been forced after a brief 
and bitter experience to give up the proprietorship. His ap- 
pointee, Francis Delavigne, had proved a poor substitute for 
the experienced Lorentz (who replaced him November 22, 1694). 
Delavigne repeated Lorentz's performance by seizing 9,320 
pieces-of-eight, according to the Brandenburg estimate, from 
the latter company, apparently a forcible collection of the 
rental dues.^^ They suffered a misfortune for which there was 
less chance of redress, when a French privateer named Legendre 
{dit "le blond") swooped down upon the Brandenburg buildings 
on the night of November 4, robbed the magazine of over 
24,000 rdV^ in cash, and robbed the employees, from the director- 
general to the humblest, of everything except the shirts to their 
backs.^^ The injured Brandenburgers were inclined to blame 

** Schuck, II, 407 et seq. st. = stivers, 

88 Ibid.. I, 240. 

" Ibid.. I. 244, 245. 
88J6ii., I, 245. 

89 Directors to Lorentz (July 24, 1694). C. B.. 1690-1713. 

9" Schuck (I, 251) places the damage at 24,573 pieces-of-eight. 
"1 Lorentz to directors (January 17, 1695) C. B.. 1690-1713. This is beyond a 
doubt the incident referred to by Labat in his Nouveaux Voyages aux isles 



90 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

Governor Delavigne for failure to keep proper watch. They 
contented themselves for the time, however, with sending out 
requests through Delavigne's successor, Lorentz, to the neigh- 
boring French governments, asking them to detain the pirate, 
should he land, and to compel him to give "satisfaction" for 
his misdeeds. 

The negotiations at Copenhagen for the renewal of the three- 
year lease took place early in 1695 while the Elector was at- 
tempting to obtain full title to Tortola. Falaiseau succeeded in 
securing an extension of a single year, for which the Branden- 
burg company had to agree to pay 4,000 rdl. instead of 3,000, 
and to furnish surety for the unpaid 9,000. Meantime the two 
contracting parties were to attempt to come to an agreement on 
the interpretation, among other things, of the paragraph in the 
1685 treaty which dealt with the cultivation of the plantation on 
St. Thomas. The Danish company reserved the right to take 
up the trade itself, as well as to permit such others to trade in 
St. Thomas as might desire to do so.^^ 

In November, 1695, the stubborn question was taken up 
afresh. To assist Falaiseau at Copenhagen the Elector had de- 
puted Laporte who had been ordered to Berlin from St. Thomas 
and had been made a councilor of marine.^^ The Danish com- 
missioners were Baron Jens Juel who had been director of the 
Company since 1682, and Mathias Moth, secretary in the for- 
eign office and also director of the Company. These were the 
men who had counseled Lorentz's violent action and had sent 
him back as governor on the breakdown of the Thormohlen pro- 
prietorship in 1694, in the face of the fact that the Elector had 
but two years before insisted on his recall and punishment. 
Their conviction that the Brandenburg treaty was a mistake 
had no doubt been much strengthened by their conferences with 
Lorentz in Copenhagen in 1693 and 1694. Falaiseau in his 
d'AmSrique (a la Haye, 1724), Vol. II, p. 91, and ascribed to the year 1688. 
Labat's garbled story has reappeared in many versions, especially in guide books 
and works of travel. 

92 Resolution by Christian V (April 9, 1695), C. B.. 1690-1713: Schuck, I, 244, 
245. 

*^ Laporte's place as factor at St. Thomas was taken by Peter (Pedro) Van 
Belle whom Labat (op. cit., II, 286) refers to as "M. Vambel." 



THE BRANDENBURGERS AT ST. THOMAS 91 

letters to the Elector Frederick III described Juel as "a ma- 
licious, selfish, violent, passionate, vindictive man," ^* and Moth 
as "a peevish, obstinate, and passionate man who was governed 
only by caprice and with whom it was possible to have dealings 
only in the morning, for from the time that he had had his first 
glass of wine at luncheon, he was not to be reasoned with the 
rest of the day." ^^ At another time he referred to Moth as "a 
ferocious beast." With such men as advisors of the Danish 
king the prospects for the success of the Brandenburg mission 
were dark indeed. Falaiseau felt that he had scored a victory 
when he succeeded in having the consideration of the treaty 
laid before all the ministers, and not before Juel and Moth alone. 
The Danish commissioners were not particularly modest in their 
demands. Among other things they asked a yearly rental of 
10,000 rdl. Frederick III tried in vain to settle the matter with 
Christian V directly, projects and counter-projects were dis- 
cussed and cast aside; and so the case dragged on through 1696 
and 1697. Meantime the Brandenburg factors were buying con- 
demned prizes when they dared, securing good cargoes now and 
then from Guinea,^^and incidentally managing to give Governor 
Lorentz considerable anxiety. No doubt Lorentz's growing 
enthusiasm for the resumption of the slave trade by the Danish 
company helped to confirm the directors in their intention to 
crowd the Brandenburgers entirely out of St. Thomas. 

Unable to conclude a satisfactory treaty the Elector Freder- 
ick refused to expend any more perfectly good money on the 
West Indian factory but left the merchant and his few assistants 
there to carry on what business they could as best they might. 
His successor, King Frederick William I,^^ showed his willingness 

'*"mw homme malin et inter esse, violent, emporte, vindicatif." Falaiseau 
(Copenhagen) to Elector, March 20/30, 1697 (quoted in SchUck, I, 246). 

^^ "un homme difficile, enteste, passione, qui ne se gouveme que par caprice et 
avec qui outre cela on ne pent traitter que le matin, parceque dhs quit a hue un verre 
de vin a disne, il n'eat pas traitable la reste de la journee." Same to same, Nov. 19/ 
29, 1695. Schuck, I, 246. 

^ Falaiseau (Copenhagen) to the African company, June 2, 1696, Schiick, I, 
246. 

^' The Elector Frederick III had been crowned as Frederick I, king in Prussia, 
in 1701. 



92 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

to dispose of the African company's interests in 1713, as the 
War of the Spanish Succession was nearing its close.^^ On the 
return to Emden of the St. Thomas factor, Sivert Hoesz, in 
1714, the rumor was started that he brought with him over 
200,000 florins in cash which he had amassed at the Company's 
expense. He declared under oath that he brought with him 
only 9,800 thaler, his savings during twenty-one years of 
service. Finally in 1721 the suit against him was settled by the 
payment of 800 ducats.^^ In 1715, when the thirty-year privilege 
at St, Thomas had about expired, the assets of the Branden- 
burgers on the island were estimated at 23,843 pesos, which in- 
cluded houses, negroes, goods, and claims. ^°° Even these slender 
resources it proved impossible to rescue, for the Danish claims 
against the Brandenburgers for rental and other dues amounted 
by this time to the stately sum of 1,078,229 pieces-of-eight. The 
Prussian estimate was 90,000 thaler, while the Prussian counter- 
claim for accumulated damages was only 264,959 thaler }^^ In 
1717 the Dutch West India Company contracted with Branden- 
burg for the purchase of Gross-Friedrichsberg for 6,000 ducats, 
and in 1724 Emden was lost from Brandenburg control for a 
generation to come. Some fruitless negotiations with the 
Danish court in 1716-1718 brought this strange episode to an 
inglorious close. ^*''- 

To fix the responsibility for this diplomatic cowp of the Danish 
West India and Guinea Company is not difficult. It lay with 
two directors who had the zealous cooperation of the governor 
of the colony, and the work was practically completed before 
1700. Jens Juel had lived long enough to see the beginning of 
the Brandenburg decline in the West Indies, and Mathias Moth 
had witnessed the fulfilment of one of his most cherished ambi- 
tions in the abandonment by the Brandenburgers of their West 
Indian factory. The Brandenburg venture at St. Thomas had 

as SchUck, I, 288, Tpassim. 
^' lUd., I, 295. A ducat was equal to 5/6 pesos. 
i«» lUd., I, 301. 
1" lUd.. I, 302. 

"•^ Ibid., 1, 302 (note 66); H. A. Perry, " The Traditions of German Coloniza- 
tion " in Macmillan's Magazine, vol. 62, p. 118. 



THE BRANDENBURGERS AT ST. THOMAS 93 

been mercifully permitted to die a lingering and not too painful 
death, while the Danish colony was preparing for its first period 
of prosperity, which was to result from Denmark's neutral 
position during the War of the Spanish Succession. 

Before concluding this curious chapter in West Indian history, 
a quotation from the close-fisted but practical father of Fred- 
erick the Great, Frederick William I, may serve to reflect the 
royal feeling regarding the Guinea- West Indian trade in prosaic 
but unequivocal terms : ^^^ 

"The resolution which we have previously made shall remain 
as it was [namely] that we will not divert any more of our means, 
either in goods or in cash, to this African and American trading 
business, and from now on, our sole design must be directed 
toward trying to see in what other ways some profit might be 
derived by us from the Establishment founded in Africa and 
America by our father and grandfather, and this is our actual 
opinion, hitherto variously expressed, concerning the abandon- 
ment of this business, namely, that we should not indeed give 
away the said African and American Commercium or let it go to 
the first who will take it,^°^ but that we should nevertheless not 
use any money on it and cause ourselves expense on account of 
it. So far as the colony on St. Thomas is concerned, it will not 
be easy from all appearances to come to an agreement with the 
Danes. ... As time goes on, it will be advisable eventually 
to consider how the effects that are still on St. Thomas may be 
saved before the Danish Company unexpectedly seizes them 
and claims them for themselves. That we should equip and 
send two or three ships at our expense to the Guinea coast, as 
our director-general at Gross-Friederichsberg suggests, is a 
plan to which we shall never accede." 

From 1717, when the dissolution of the Brandenburg African 
Company was practically complete, until the Danish-Prussian 
troubles over Schleswig and Holstein began in 1848, the hotise of 
Hohenzollern remained without either fleet or colonies. The 
colonial maritime policy of Emperor William II, himself a 

^"^ Frederick William I to von Creutz, voa Kraut, Walter and Cramer, dated 
on battlefield before Stralsund, September 8, 1715 (quoted in Schiick, I, 301), 
^"■^ es primo occupanti hingeben . . . 



94 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

profound admirer of the Great Elector, makes the study of the 
policy of his distinguished ancestor a subject worthy of sober 
consideration. The dreams of Benjamin Raule and the Great 
Elector Frederick William I, have come to a belated and partial 
fulfilment in the days of Bismarck and of Emperor William II. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE LEASING OF GUINEA AND ST. THOMAS 

" The shareholders of the West India Company on St. Thomas 
have not had the shghtest returns from the capital invested 
since the Company's establishment because of the many changes 
of governors and their wretched administration; so they have 
now resolved to lease the island of St. Thomas to a merchant 
from Bergen named Termolen [Thormohlen], for 4,000 rdl. each 
year. He is to support the garrison, which is very small and 
of but little account. . . . The arrangement is to begin this 
coming June." 

In these words did the Swedish ambassador in Copenhagen, 
Leyenclo, report the low state of the company and the change 
to the proprietorship of Thormohlen in a letter dated March 14, 
1690.^ In the year preceding, the company's factory in Guinea 
had been leased to Nicholas Jansen Arff for a period of eight 
years.^ In describing that series of events which ended in the 
company's reassuming control of St. Thomas in 1694 and of the 
Guinea station in 1698, some repetition will be risked for the 
sake of clarity.^ 

Arff was not able actually to take over the Guinea trade until 
1690, when on July 22 he sent three ships ^ out of the Sound 
under Captain George Meyer. After over five months of sailing 
and the loss of twenty-two men from scurvy, Captain Meyer 
arrived at Christiansborg on December 31, 1690. The forts were 
repaired with building materials brought from Denmark, and 

^ Leyenclo to Charles XI. Danske Samlinger, 2 R. V. 314. 

^ Arff's grant was dated July 27, 1689, and appears to have given him the 
Guinea trade for life, but apparently he was limited by some supplementary 
understanding to the eight-year term. Vest. Reg., 1671-99 (July 27, 1689). 

' The paragraph on the Arff venture is based entirely on Hartwig Meyer's 
account, incorporated into Manager MS., pp. 82 et seq. 

* These were Kiobenhavns Nye Waaben (Copenhagen's New Coat-of-arms), 
Gyldenloves Waaben, and the galliot Launingen. Manager MS., 82. 

[95] 



96 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

in March, 1691, the ships returned to Copenhagen, leaving Meyer 
there as governor. The next ship arrived in July, 1692, took on 
as much of gold and other Guinea products as it could secure, 
and left for Denmark in September. Why none of these ships 
took on slave cargoes for the West Indian market does not ap- 
pear, for the slave trade was the lessee's avowed aim. During 
the governorship of Harding Petersen who succeeded Meyer in 
1693, the fort at Christiansborg was seized by natives of the 
Quambu tribe and the inmates were either maltreated or 
killed.^ The governor, to whose negligence the capture was 
ascribed by the company, managed after fearful hardships to es- 
cape to the neighboring Dutch fort. This fort, the loss of which 
would have cost Arff the sum of 71,315 rdl.,^ was "bought" 
back from the Quambu chief for 3,000 rdl. worth of goods in the 
following year by the merchants Hartwig Meyer, stationed at 
Christiansborg, and John Trane, factor on board one of the 
ships .^ Shortly afterward, during the governorship of Thomas 
Jacobson, a pirate from Prince's Island ^ attacked the castle and 
captured and killed many of its defenders including Harding 
Petersen, the former Danish governor. During the two years 
just preceding the expiration of Arff's contract (1696 and 1697) 
only two of his ships visited the coast, and these went mainly 
for the purpose of bringing his effects at the fort to Europe 
before he gave back the factory to the company. As a factor 
in the West Indian slave trade the Arff venture appears to have 
been negligible. It is probable that a few slaves were sold to 
foreign companies or to interloping traders.^ 

^ Manager MS., p. 84. 

^ By the loss of the fort, Fensman, according to the account books, lost 4,000 
rdl. (in goods?) and 4,164 rdl. in gold. 

^ Two ships sent out from Gliickstadt, the Christiansborg and the Gyldenloves 
Waaben, had arrived in December, 1693, and anchored at the Dutch fort during 
the negotiations. Mariager MS., 85. 

* A tiny island near the Portuguese island of St. Thomas in the Guinea gulf. 

' On August 2, 1695, Moses Joshua Henriques, a Jew from Gliickstadt, who 
had petitioned the king for permission to trade with the West Indies and Guinea, 
asked to have his rights transferred to one Jacob Cohen and his fellow investors. 
The directors to whom the petition was referred advised against a project that 
would necessitate outside capital. At the same time they advised the revoking 



THE LEASING OF GUINEA AND ST. THOMAS 97 

With such a list of misfortunes at his back there was nothing 
for Arff to do but give up the Guinea trade. This business 
which had been precarious enough in time of peace became 
quite hopeless as an object of individual enterprise during a 
general European war. It was in the last two years of Arff's 
contract that Governor Lorentz was sending glowing reports to 
Copenhagen from St. Thomas regarding the slave cargoes that 
the Brandenburg company had been securing from its Guinea 
factory. The directors allowed themselves to be infected by the 
governor's enthusiasm to the extent of preparing to assume the 
Guinea trade in earnest when the company was ready to take 
over the fort or "castle" of Christiansborg. 

During this period the Company's attention was naturally 
mainly directed towards what was hoped would be the dividend 
paying factory of St. Thomas. With Denmark maintaining a 
neutral position in the European war, St. Thomas should nor- 
mally have been a profitable place for neutral trade. But the 
island had had too many weird experiences to have acquired a 
dependable commercial character, or to be in a position to 
reap the hoped for advantages of neutrality. Privateering at 
its best is sadly demoralizing to legitimate commerce, but when 
local governments, as that of the French at Petit Goave, issued 
letters of marque and reprisal to owners of pirate vessels, then 
the task of distinguishing between pirates and privateers be- 
came well-nigh impossible, and lawful commerce suffered in 
proportion. The plan of leasing St. Thomas for a term of years 
was not an entirely new one. In a letter written to the Com- 
pany in 1686 by Commissioner Mikkelsen who in that year had 
brought Governors Milan and Esmit back to Copenhagen for 
trial, the commissioner had intimated that he and a few others 
might be willing to consider paying the Company "a reasonable 
rental (Recognissie) or interest on their capital" if the directors 
cared "to relinquish their present position and privilege for 
a few years . . . instead of making a new contract each 

of Arff's contract on the ground that he had discontinued the trade. The latter 
advice does not appear to have been followed. King to Directors, enclosing 
memorial of August i (August 5, 1695), the Directors to king (September 23, 
1695). C. B.. 1690-1713. 



98 THE DANISH WEST INDIES | 

year." ^" It was not, however, until the wealthy Bergen mer- 
chant George Thormohlen began to negotiate with the Com- | 
pany, that the proposal to lease St. Thomas was seriously \ 
considered. 

George Thormohlen was a man whose enterprise and business 
genius gave him a distinguished name in commercial circles in 
the north. Although apparently less sound in his ideas accord- I 
ing to present standards, he bears comparison in enterprise and | 
boldness of conception with his distinguished Scotch contem- | 
porary, William Paterson. About the time that the Scotchman j 
was bringing about the establishment of the Bank of England, 
the Scandinavian was seeking permission to found a paper 
money bank in Norway. Failing in this project at first, he 
brought the idea up again early in the reign of Frederick IV, but 
in a modified form, providing for a considerable redemption 
fund in gold. As it was impossible to raise the required sum the 
scheme finally fell through.^^ Thormohlen seems to have been 
of North German origin, but had lived since 1670 in Bergen, 
where he had promoted an astonishing variety of manufacturing 
and commercial ventures including works and factories for the 
production of salt, soap, woolen products, sailcloth, spikes, 
copper goods, and gunpowder. He was a prime mover in the 
estabhshment of the Bergen Stock Exchange in 1684. At the 
time that he embarked on the West Indian enterprise he was a 
vigorous man of about fifty, with a score of active and eventful 
years before him.^^ 

The contract entered into between Thormohlen and the 

10 Mikkel Mikkelsen to Company (December 8, 1686). Cf. Krarup, Milan 
(II), 238. B. & D., 1683-89i?). 

" In 1695 (April 24), Thormohlen presented to "the commission which met 
in the palace council chamber" {Kommissionen i Raadstuen far Slottet) his 
proposals for establishing a paper money bank in the district of Nordenfield in 
Norway and submitted to a searching cross-examination. On December 6, 1697, 
U. F. Gyldenlove, Stadtholder in Norway, expressed himself as entirely opposed 
to the paper money idea. Protocol over Kommissionen i Raadstuen for Slottet, 
2 B (April 24, 1695); ibid., 4 B. (December 6, 1697); ibid. (December 9, 1699); 
E. Holm, Danmark-Norges Indre Hist., 11, 403. 

12 For a brief biographical sketch, see C. F. Bricka, Dansk Biographisk Lexi- 
kon, V. 17, p. 278. 



THE LEASING OF GUINEA AND ST. THOMAS 99 

Company was signed February 13, 1690. Thormohlen con- 
tracted to lease the island of St. Thomas and the surrounding is- 
lands for a term of ten years; but the Company was to have the 
privilege of resuming the trade at the end of three years, when 
he likewise might abrogate the lease (^12) if he did not care to 
continue the arrangement. The annual rental was to be 4,630 
sldl. (3,086 rdl. 64 sk.), which was four per cent, of an estimated 
capitahzation of 115,750 sldl. (77,166 rdl 64 sk.)}^ The con- 
tract was to become effective on June 11, 1690. The first pay- 
ment was to become due on that date if he took possession 
of the land by that time, or if not, then immediately after re- 
ceipt of the news that he had taken possession. He was to take 
charge of all the Company's property, including fort, planta- 
tions, negroes, and magazines, which he was to deliver back in 
the condition or number tha.t he found them. He was on the 
whole to be allowed the same privileges in disposing of his goods, 
entering his ships and the like, that the Company had enjoyed. 
If he took any of the surrounding islands into possession the 
Company was to have the right of buying them from him at 
double their cost to him. Failure to pay the rental promptly 
would make the contract void. It was understood that any 
dues received from the Brandenburg company should be applied 
to Thormdhlen's account.^* 

Thormohlen's orders to vice-governor Lorentz, whom he re- 
quested to continue in office until a successor could be named, 
did not reach St. Thomas until January 29, 1691,^^ and the 
actual transfer of authority took place on February 7, just after 
the Candlemas holiday. In the contract with the Company the 
proprietor had agreed to maintain as many soldiers at the fort 
as had the Company; but he met his first rebuff when he at- 
tempted to induce the colonists to share in bearing the burden of 
defence. In this, as in his efforts to raise the duties on out- 
going goods from five to six per cent., he was unable to secure 

13 C. B., 1690-1713. See Appendix M., p. 332, for receipts during these 
years. 

1* Moth to Thormohlen (August 15, 1693). C. B., 1690-1713. 

1^ Lorentz' s Journal (January 29, 1690 et seq.). The departure of Thormohlen's 
ship had been delayed until September 27, 1690. Mariager MS., 94. 



100 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

the support of the directors who declared that any increase in 
taxation was contrary to the agreement and would tend to drive 
the planters off the island.^® 

It was becoming painfully evident that the demands of the 
West Indian situation had grown beyond the proprietor's 
ability to meet them. To Thormohlen's request for a hundred 
oflBcers and men at a total cost in wages of 5,110 rdl. the directors 
replied that they did not care how many were sent over, pro- 
vided he paid the bills. To his plea that " the greatest part of the 
resources belonging to me and my modest house are sunk in that 
lease" the directors Juel and Moth turned an unsympathetic 
ear.^'^ Their interest was now directed towards the prospects of 
being able to satisfy the shareholders with the proceeds expected 
from the lessee-ship. 

Among the passengers on one of the three ships sent out by 
Thormohlen in the summer of 1692 was the latter 's new ap- ! 
pointee to this governorship, Francis Delavigne, who arrived on ' 
September 17.^^ Lorentz had no taste for continuing in the 
service under the new management and handed over the reins | 
of power to Delavigne with a light heart. ^^ He described his | 
successor as "a person by the name of Franz de la Wigne who is ! 
reported to have been born in Copenhagen, and whose stepfather | 
is said to be the queen's master in languages, namely Visconti." ^ f 
Again an untrained hand was chosen to direct the affairs of this I 
distant colony in a difficult time. Whether Delavigne's zeal for 
his master could make up for his lack of experience will presently ' 
appear. One of the first duties that fell upon his shoulders was 
the painful one of returning to the Brandenburgers the 16,000 1 
rdl. worth of sugar which Lorentz had seized during the previous f 
year and which was already on board ship ready to be taken : 

^^ Thormohlen to government and people of St. Thomas (September 1, 1691), ■ 
P. B. 0., 1683-1728; Directors to Lorentz (December 22, 1691), Directors' reso- j 
lution (November 12, 1692), C. B., 1690-1713. 

"Thormohlen to Directors (November 28, 1691); Directors to Thormohlen 
(December 5. 1691); Thormohlen's reply (December 5, 1691), C. B., 1690-1713. 

^^ Lorentz to Directors (September 17, 1692), ibid. The names of the ships 
were the St. Thomas, Madame Thormohlen, and Jmgeren (the Huntsman). , 

" Delat.jne papers (November 25, 1692). M 

'"> Lorentz to Directors (January 6, 1693), C. B.. 1690-1713. ! 



THE LEASING OF GUINEA AND ST. THOMAS 101 

home."' The governor's chagrin must have been still deeper 
when he received a copy of the king's order of September 3, 1692, 
directing Thormohlen to pay 8,000 of the 16,000 rdl. — in case he 
had not delivered the contested goods to the Brandenburgers al- 
ready — to Vice-admiral Iver Hoppe. This was by way of resti- 
tution for a seizure made by the Brandenburg commissioners at 
Emden in 1689,^^ — a characteristic seventeenth century mode of 
"settling" an international dispute. But the king's previous 
order of June 7, 1692,-^ had already been received and executed. 
Delavigne made a poor start when he tried to carry out 
Thormohlen's schemes for raising the taxes. His attempts 
to curry favor with the Brandenburg director-general imme- 
diately after his arrival made him an object of suspicion 
to John Lorentz, who was watching his every move with an 
eagle eye and reporting his observations to Juel and Moth in 
Copenhagen. Lorentz was a man worth reckoning with, for he 
retained a strong hold upon many of the planters and hold-over 
officials (like the factor, von Holten and assistant, Peter Chris- 
tensen), and he could no doubt have been of real assistance as 
an adviser on matters of inter-island trade. Before Lorentz had 
returned from Copenhagen in the autumn of 1694 to replace 
Delavigne, the latter had imprisoned and put von Holten in 
irons, charging him, and apparently on good grounds, with 
misappropriating funds and juggling accounts. ^^ Likewise the 
assistant Peter Christensen, as a result of the irresponsible talk 
of a negress, — "a loose heathenish female," — had been chained 
to a block in a cell at the fort, and his entire estate condemned 
"without any judgment, summons or warning." One Engel 
Huysen had been kept for months "in a dark room, without 
air, sun or moonshine" because of alleged rebellious action. ^^ 

^^ The "vexation and chagrin" which this caused sent the governor to bed 
"with a deathly illness" for seven weeks, according to his own account. Dela- 
vigne to Thormohlen (November 25, 1692). Delavigne papers. 

22 Christian V to Iver Hoppe (September 3, 1692). Vest. Reg., 1670-1699. 

-^ See Neben-Rezess zum Interims-Vergleick, June 10/20, 1692 (Schiick, op. cit., 
11,405-407). 

^* Von Holten, " Liste paa hvis jeg kommer till kort paa Cassen" (November 15, 
1694). Delavigne papers. 

26 Lorentz to Directors (January 17, 1695). C. B., 1690-1713. 



102 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

Thomas Berentsen, an influential planter, had been removed 
from his lieutenant's post and his place on the councU.^^ 

Delavigne's relations with the Brandenburgers did not long 
retain that spirit of mutual confidence which Thormohlen and 
the king had imposed upon him as one of his first duties. On 
Thormohlen's failure to secure from the Brandenburg company 
the 3,000 rdl. with which he expected to make part of his annual 
payment for the lease, Delavigne had seized Brandenburg goods 
to the amount of 9,320 pieces-of-eight.^^ The directors seem in 
fact to have left the collection of the rental dues from the Bran- 
denburgers to Thormohlen, who naturally disclaimed all respon- 
sibility for the whole Brandenburg matter. ^^ Acting upon his 
master's orders Delavigne had successfully protested against 
the attempt of the Brandenburgers to lay claim to Crab Island,^^ 

While the governor was being kept thoroughly occupied with 
local problems, the proprietor Thormohlen was having troubles 
of his own with the implacable directors of the Company. This 
difficulty began when the first payment became due in 1692. 
The situation had even then begun to look dark to Thormohlen. 
Brandenburg had negotiated a new treaty with Denmark pro- 
viding for a rental very much lower than what the directors had 
insisted on when the Thormohlen lease had been drawn up, and 
the latter had not even been consulted in the matter. The king 
had peremptorily ordered Thormohlen's governor to deliver up 
the 16,000 rdl. worth of sugar which Lorentz had seized. Al- 
though not included, according to Moth's statement, in the in- 
ventory of the property taken over by Thormohlen, the latter 
had looked upon it as one of his perquisites.^" 

^' Berentsen to Delavigne (December 18, 1694); Delavigne to Berentsen (Feb- 
ruary 20, 1695). Delavigne papers. 

" Directors to Lorentz (July 28, 1694). C. B., 1690-1713. 

28 Moth to Thormohlen (August 15, 1693); Thormohlen to Juel and Moth 
(February 28, 1694). Ibid. 

'^ Delavigne had sent Capt. Peter Iversen to Crab Island on December 19, 
1694, just two days before the Brandenburg director had sent his frigate, the 
Lion, there with orders to take formal possession. See above, pp. 88, 90. 
Delavigne papers, Joum. (December 17 ct seq.); Lorentz to Directors (January 6, 
1693), C. B., 1690-1713. 

2" Moth to Thormohlen (June 25, 1692); same to same (July 15, 1693). C. B., 
1690-1713. 



THE LEASING OF GUINEA AND ST. THOMAS 103 

By the end of the second year of the contract, the directors 
began to breathe forth threats as to what the lessee might expect 
if he failed to make prompt payment of his arrears.^^ Finally 
in February, 1694, Juel and Moth went to the length of making 
a formal demand on Thormohlen through a royally appointed 
notary public, for categorical answers to the following questions : 

(1) whether he desired to abide by the contract any longer, and 

(2) whether he would make immediate payment of the rental for 
1693. Failure to render a satisfactory reply on these points was 
to constitute a breach of contract. In his reply Thormohlen 
pointed out that the Brandenburgers had not only been awarded 
16,000 rdl. "of my effects, which according to the inventory, I 
should have and hold as long as the contract lasted," but that 
he had seen nothing of the 3,000 rdl. rental dues, in vain search 
of which he had made a difficult journey.^^ 

In March Thormohlen began to bring suit for damages against 
the Company, and immediately the directors nominated John 
Lorentz as governor, giving him the title of "vice commandant 
in our land St. Thomas in the West Indies." The king confirmed 
the latter as governor on March 24, and on April 7 issued an 
order to Delavigne to hand over to Lorentz the command en- 
trusted to him by Thormohlen.^^ On Lorentz's arrival in St. 
Thomas with these letters the connection of Thormohlen with 
the proprietorship of St. Thomas was entirely severed. It only 
remained to determine the extent of the damage caused to 
Thormohlen by the company, or the reverse. Before the court 
appointed to investigate his claims ^^ Thormohlen maintained 
that the damage suffered from Brandenburgers, or from Zee- 
landers and Hamburgers masquerading under the Brandenburg 
name, brought his losses up to 76,000 rdl., not counting other 

31 Moth to Thormbhlen (July 1 and 15, 1693). C. B., 1690-1713. 

3^ Juel and Moth to Thormohlen (February 26, 1694) ; Thormohlen's reply 
(February 28, 1694). Ihid. 

33 Report of Directors' meeting (March 19, 1694), C. B., 1690-1713; Christian 
V's order to Lorentz (March 24, 1694); Christian V's order to Delavigne 
(April 7, 1694); Vest. Reg., 1671-99. 

3* This commission consisted of "his High Excellency," Stadtholder U. F. 
Gyldenlove, Reventlow, J, Juel, von Plessen, Moth, von Jessen, and Harboe. 
Protokol over Kommissioneme udi Raadstuen . . . vol. 3 (July 24, 1694). 



104 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

inconveniences, loss of credit, and the like. Out of 98,875 rdl. 
expended, he had received only 39,341 rdl. in return, making a 
total cash loss of 59,534 rdl. The court admitted that he had 
considerable ground for complaint, and in recommending that 
the king extend him his good offices, that body called to mind his 
former enterprises in various lines and held that he might render 
the state considerable service in the future by remaining in 
business.^^ Whether Thormohlen secured any further satisfac- 
tion from the Company is doubtful. Though he never recovered 
from the shock which the West Indian proprietorship and the 
accidents of war ^^ gave his finances, he rose during the reign of 
Frederick IV (1699-1717) to membership once more on the 
Board of Trade (1704-1708), and just before his death in 1708 
(December 25) he was made a member of the newly established 
Board of Police and Trade.^^ The leasing of the factories in 
Guinea and the West Indies had brought profit neither to the 
lessees nor to the Company's stockholders. If the investors 
were to enjoy any appreciable returns, it was more likely to come 
about through the honest efforts of their own trained employees, 
loyally supported by directors who were willing to repose con- 
fidence in them. One great European war was nearing its close; 
another was to begin after the death of Charles II of Spain in 
1700. In the lull between these two great struggles the Danish 
West India and Guinea Company was to go through a period of 
internal readjustment that was to enable it, better than in the 
past war, to reap the advantages of Denmark-Norway's neutral 
position in any future complications. In this attempt to bring 
the Company into line with the commercial demands of the age, 
a chief part was played by the oft-mentioned John Lorentz who, 
beginning afresh in 1694, gave the Company nearly eight years 
of continuous and capable service. 

^^ Protokol over Kommissionerne udi Raadsiuen . . . vol. 3 (July 24, 1694.) 
^^ He stated that twelve of his ships had been seized by one or another of the 
warring factions. O. Nielsen {op. cit., VI, 171), mentions a petition from 
N. J. AtS, Thormohlen and W. and N. Edinger, presented in 1697 in which they 
claim to have lost 500,000 rdl. on ships seized during the war. 

^^ Arkiv-Meddel, 1S86-SS, 163, 164. The Board of Trade was united with 
the Police Board by a royal order issued on March 23, 1708. The new Board 
continued in existence until 1731. 



CHAPTER V 

THE GOVERNORSHIP OF JOHN LORENTZ 

When John Lorentz returned to St. Thomas to replace Dela- 
vigne as governor in November, 1694, he had been for ten years 
a participant in the troubled history of the company and its 
colony as above related. This young Flensborger, according 
to Pere Labat, had traveled in France, Spain and Italy, and 
spoke French fluently. He first came over as assistant in the 
company's office with the irascible Milan. He had humbly 
done the governor's bidding and bent before his violent wrath, 
and he managed to survive Milan's administration and to do 
service as a witness against him in Copenhagen. When Com- 




missioner Mikkelsen was sent to St. Thomas to give Adolph 
Esmit a trial as governor and as loadstone for Spanish treasure, 
Lorentz returned to his former post to the gratification of the 
company's directors whom he had impressed as a young man 
of promise. After Esmit's return to Denmark Lorentz served 
under vice-governor Heins as the company's bookkeeper. On 
Heins' death in October, 1689, two deputies from each of the 
"nations" on the island (Danish, Dutch, French, and pos- 
sibly German) elected him vice-governor to the great satisfac- 
tion of the inhabitants. In 1691 he induced Madame Heins to 
remain on the island as his wife, and on May fifth and sixth a 
brilliant wedding was celebrated in the town of Charlotte 
Amalia, to which the leading planters, Brandenburg function- 
aries, and French and English captains in the harbor lent dis- 
tinction by their presence.^ 

^ Lorentz" 8 Journal (March 31, May 5, etc., 1691). 
[103] 



]06 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

After Thormohlen had leased the island Lorentz remained in 
charge until Delavigne's arrival in September, 1692. Even be- 
fore Lorentz had been displaced, the directors had required him 
to keep them accurately informed as to the state of Thormoh- 
len's trade. In the summer of 1693 he returned to Copenhagen 
to give the directors a verbal report on the St. Thomas situa- 
tion. About the time that Lorentz was departing for Copen- 
hagen, Joachim von Holten (who was later to become the 
eighth governor of St. Thomas) wrote a letter to Thormohlen 
filled with complaints against Delavigne and assuring Thorm(>h- 
len that he had "lost a good servant {Sorgtrager) m John Lor- 
entz.^ Whether the letter was written with or without the 
latter's knowledge may not be said, but it was certainly in line 
with Lorentz's personal ambitions. Captain Peter Iversen's 
arrival in Copenhagen that summer with but a small cargo for 
the proprietor Thormohlen led to an investigation by the latter 
which caused him to issue a long list of charges against Gov- 
ernor Delavigne, and to order one George Lorentzen (or Lau- 
rentsen), whom he asserted that he had "trained to take 
charge of the government," to proceed to St. Thomas, place 
the incumbent under arrest, and assume the vice-governor's 
position.^ With another administrative dispute threatening 
at St. Thomas, and with the directors preparing to bring suit 
against the proprietor at Copenhagen, it was surely the part of 
the discreet office-seeker to be on hand where he might fish 
in the troubled waters. For some unexplained reason the new 
appointee never took office. 

Lorentz assumed charge of the government on November 23, 
1694, immediately following his arrival. He had come over by 
way of the Dutch island of Curasao whence he had sent the 
directors a letter telling of the bad conditions reported at St. 
Thomas.^ Lorentz, according to his own account, had come 

2 J. von Holten to Thormohlen (May 25, 1693). Delavigne papers. 

' Thormohlen's examination of Captain Iversen and "Irnst" Rongel (Sep- 
tember 20); Thormohlen's nine charges against Delavigne (September 25); Thor- 
mohlen's order to George Lorentsen (September 25, 1693). Ibid. The latter's 
name was also spelled Laurentsen. 

* In his letter of January 17, 1695, Lorentz mentions having sent a letter 
from Curacao on October 22, 1694. C. B., 1690-1713. 



THE GOVERNERSHIP OF JOHN LORENTZ 107 

not a whit too soon, for the Enghsh authorities in the neighbor- 
ing islands had already forbidden their people from trading 
with St. Thomas, while the French were designing to remove 
Delavigne from his fort by force and bring him to the general 
at Martinique because of alleged high-handed treatment of a 
French ship in St. Thomas harbor. Lorentz found two of 
the company's three plantations ° badly run down, the inhab- 
itants dissatisfied with the government, and the Brandenburgers 
still smarting under the robbery perpetrated by the "blond" 
Legendre scarcely three weeks before. He prepared to apply 
himself immediately to the task of rehabilitating the colony as 
best he might under the liberal set of instructions with which 
the directors had furnished him. These instructions deserve 
some passing notice. With respect to the Brandenburgers 
(^ 14) he was to abide by the three-year arrangement made on 
April 23, 1692, after which he should proceed according to the 
original treaty of 1685. He was to keep on good terms with all 
foreign "generals" and governors, assert the company's right 
to St. John, Passage (a small island just east of Porto Rico), 
and Crab Islands, resist attacks from without, and prevent re- 
bellion, whether of blacks or whites, from within. 

Governor Lorentz was especially urged, by way of keeping on 
good terms with his neighbors in the West Indies, to have noth- 
ing to do with "sea-robbers," though he was to be allowed to 
buy properly condemned prizes when they might be offered 
for sale. In his relations with the English, who were becoming 
more aggressive as the war went on, he was soon to have a 
chance to show his mettle. The most radical departure from 
the previous policy, however, came as a result of an offer made 
by Lorentz himself to the directors. "Inasmuch as he [Lo- 
rentz] had undertaken to support himself and all the company's 
employees and soldiers on the income from the company's 
plantations and the poU tax," so ran their acceptance of his 
offer (^ 8), " we are satisfied on behalf of the company to accept 
for it such surplus as may be left over, if any there be, leaving 
it to his honesty and his oath to see that the company may re- 

^ These were known as the " New Quarter plantation," the " Sugar plantation " 
and "Krumbays plantation." 



108 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

ceive what is due."^ In other words, Lorentz was given a free 
hand to administer the Company's affairs in the West Indies 
exactly as he saw fit. The concluding paragraph of their in- 
structions gives a still better idea of the new incumbent's lati- 
tude of action. "He may do whatever he finds needful for the 
Company's best interests, provided he immediately notifies 
the directors; and inasmuch as we have confidence in his re- 
liability and in his desire to promote the Company's welfare in 
all things, we shall not hold him responsible if he should risk 
some of the Company's resources and (which may God in his 
mercy prevent) it should not turn fortunately as was expected. 
And we shall besides, when the Company gains headway and 
gets upon its feet, show our appreciation for his faithful service 
in such a way that he shall see that he is not dealing with un- 
grateful people. Finally," they concluded by way of a parting 
benediction, "we will wish him such a measure of success that 
his good resolution may redound to the service of his Majesty, 
the prosperity and growth of the Company, and to his own 
honor and fame." ^ 

The success or failure of the West Indian colony was put 
squarely up to the new governor. The part he played in curb- 
ing the efforts of the Brandenburgers and helping to bring about 
the collapse of their plans for commercial expansion has been 
discussed in the previous chapter. The perfect unity that had 
characterized his former relations with directors Juel and Moth 
continued during the years following his return. In March, 
1701, he was able to report to his masters that the Branden- 
burgers were carrying on little or no trade, having for a long 
time bought nothing from outside merchants but a few slaves ^ 

^ The original resolutions of the shareholders, passed at their meeting of 
March 19, was signed by the following directors and shareholders: Jens Juel, 
P. Bran[d]t, M. Moth, W. Worm, A. Gyldensparre, N. Krag, R. Meier, W. 
Mule, V. Lerche (Lerke), F. C. Adelaer (Adeler), P. Hiort, P. Lemvig, Nicol. 
Janson (sic) Arf[f], C. Braem, J. Wurger, J. Kroyer, J. Matisen (for "Hr Cane. 
Raad Adelaer"), and Frid. and Niels MoUer. Resolutions of Directors 
(March 19, 1694). C. B., 1690-1713. 

^ Directors' instructions to Lorentz (March 29, 1694). C. B., 1690-1713. 

^ Lorentz and Van Belle had together bought a cargo of 154 slaves from a 
Zealand slave ship. 



THE GOVERNORSHIP OF JOHN LORENTZ 109 

and some "Campeachy" wood. On the island they had no 
trade except a little in cotton when they made an occasional 
purchase from a planter. "On the whole, they are quite 
civil," he reported, "and are waiting for a new treaty."^ John 
Lorentz had every reason to be pleased with such a quiescent 
situation and to pray for its long continuance. 

The most numerous nation among the planters of St. Thomas 
was the Dutch. Inasmuch as the number of prosperous planters 
largely determined the size of the return cargoes, there was 
considerable competition among the islands to secure planters 
of means and induce them to settle permanently. Organized 
into a militia corps these burghers could become an important 
factor in defence against outside attack. As early as 1688, 
when Europe was on the verge of war, Adolph Esmit had 
offered eight years' exemption from taxes to intending planters. 
In the years 1690 and 1691 a number of Dutch planters had 
come from St. Eustatius and Saba to avoid confiscation of their 
property, especially their negroes, by the French who had just 
taken possession of the island. ^° During the course of the war, 
Governor Lorentz took measures to prevent their leaving. As 
the war closed, and the refugees repeated their desire to go, on 
the ground that St. Eustatius was a more healthful place to live 
than St. Thomas (which was admittedly true) he intimated 
that their real reason was the expiration of the eight years' 
tax exemption. He tried to induce those leaving to pay the 
tax for four of the eight years but was unable to prevent five 
families from going, although one planter, Lucas Beverhoudt, 
left his plantation on St. Thomas in full working order, to the 
governor's great joy. Just how many others eventually re- 
turned does not appear. ^^ 

The greatest obstacle to Lorentz 's constructive efforts was 
privateering. Although Brandenburg was ostensibly an enemy 

9 Lorentz to Directors (March 27, 1701). C. B., 1690-1713. 

^^ Among these were Adrian Ronnels, Lawrence Westerbaen, Adrian Sorgeloos, 
and John le Ducq (Duq). Delavigne papers; Lorentz' s Journal (February 11, 
1691, passim). 

" Lorentz to Directors (September 6, 1696), C. B., 1690-1713; same to same 
(January 22, 1698), Gov. C. B., 169^-1700; same to same (June 20 and 24, 1698), 
C. B., 1690-1713. 



110 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

of France, its African company's factor in the West Indies 
bought Spanish and English prizes captured by French priva- 
teers whenever opportunity offered. ^^ These difficulties reached 
their height in 1696 when French captains holding commissions 
from Governor Du Casse of Petit Goave swarmed like birds of 
prey around the mouth of St. Thomas harbor, seizing not only 
enemies' ships but vessels belonging to St. Thomas inhabitants.^^ 
To Governor Lorentz's vigorous protests against these acts of 
violence towards a friendly power, Du Casse gaily replied that 
those complained of were rascals, and advised Lorentz to have 
them hanged when they came to St. Thomas again. Further, 
Du Casse accused Lorentz of selling passports to Curasao 
skippers at 10 rdl. each. According to Lorentz's account, the 
Petit Goave governor bore a particular grudge against the St. 
Thomas government because of Delavigne's failure to pay him 
for two kegs of indigo which he claimed were still due him, and 
he threatened to get Lorentz out of his government "as he had 
Delavigne." The last thrust probably did not disturb Lorentz, 
who knew better than Du Casse why Delavigne had been re- 
moved. For the Count of Blenacq, "general" at Martinique, 
the governor had mainly words of praise for the good order he 
had kept among his privateers. ^^ 

Although Denmark had not openly sided with Louis XIV, her 
attitude of neutrality was looked upon as an indication of her 
friendliness. For the Spaniards who had joined the league 
against Louis XIV and Sweden it was not difficult to find an 
excuse for attacking St. Thomas. The report that they were 
planning an attack upon the island with three thousand men in 
the summer of 1696 spread consternation among the planters 
and well-nigh demoralized the population. The planters took 

'^^ Lorentz to Directors (October 19, 1697); same to same (November 30, 
1696), C. B., 1690-1713. 

" Governor Lorentz cites several instances. Benjamin Frank, a Jew, but a 
Danish subject, had his ship detained and his skipper maltreated and robbed; 
John de Windt's ship was seized on the way from Curagao to St. Thomas, the 
cargo was confiscated and the ship only released on deposit of 5,080 rdl. as 
surety; two inhabitants who had a bill of sale from the Brandenburg factor had 
their bark seized. Lorentz to Directors (September 6, 1696). C. B., 1690-1713. 

''Ihid. 



THE GOVERNORSHIP OF JOHN LORENTZ 111 

measures for their own protection by sending their families and 
movable property to Curagao ^^ and some of the Leeward Islands 
{"de ofver Eilande"). The report that the Spaniards had 
planned to get the negroes' help in turning St. Thomas over to 
them made the governor take measures to send as many slaves 
as possible out of the island, especially the most unruly ones.^^ 
The arrival of the French fleet under Pointis in West Indian 
waters made the Spaniards retire to Havana, so by November 
the Danish refugees had begun to re turn. ^^ Lorentz hastened to 
advise the directors of the company to procure protection for 
St. Thomas by making representations at Madrid,^^ which ad- 
vice they promptly followed.^® But the Spanish plans were 
only postponed. Fortunately for St. Thomas a squadron of six 
French men-of-war met the Spanish "Barlovento" fleet ^^ when 
it was reported to be on its way to attack St. Thomas, probably 
early in 1697. The battle took place in the waters between 
Porto Rico and San Domingo, with the result that the Spanish 
vice-admiral, three hundred men, and fifty-four guns were 
captured by the French and brought into Petit Goave.^^ 

While this danger was thus averted by the opportune ap- 
pearance of a French squadron, an equally serious danger was 
threatening from another quarter. The Brandenburgers on 
St. Thomas had been carrying on considerable trade with the 
French colony at Petit Goave by collusion with the local French 
authorities who should by right have seized the Brandenburg 
vessels as belonging to an enemy of their king. At a time when 
France and England were getting ready to grapple for naval 
supremacy in West Indian waters it behooved Denmark with 
her little colony strictly to avoid getting into the melee. 

'* Madame Lorentz was among the refugees to Curagao. 

" C. B.. 1690-1713. 

" Lorentz' 3 Journal (November, 1696, passim). 

'8 Lorentz to Directors (Nov. 30, 1696). C. B., 1690-1713. 

" Directors to Christian V (April 16, 1697). Ibid. 

^"The "Armada de Barlovento" was a small fleet that the Spaniards had 
used for the protection of their mainland and for catching interlopers. The 
visits of this fleet to Crab Island prevented its permanent occupation by either 
Danes or English. The fleet at this time consisted of five ships and one small 
snow. Cf. Haring, Buccaneers, 109. 

21 Lorentz to Directors (March 17, 1697). C. B., 1690-1713. 



112 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

In January, 1697,^^ the French fleet above referred to left 
Brest for the West Indies under Jean-Bernard Desjeans, baron 
de Pointis. At Petit Goave, Pointis was joined by a fleet of 
privateers under the command of Governor Du Casse and de- 
parted in March for Carthagena on the coast of New Granada. 
After a difficult siege the citadel was captured, and booty esti- 
mated to be worth forty million crowns (ecus) was loaded on 
the French ships and promptly started for home. The English 
vice-admiral Nevell had meantime come to the West Indies in 
search of the French, who were assumed to have gone to some 
part of the Spanish Main, probably to Porto BeUo.^^ It was 
important to prevent the captured loot from reaching Louis XIV 
who might be able with it to prolong the war considerably. As 
soon as a Martinique bark had brought the news of Nevell's 
presence in Caribbean waters to Petit Goave, the French au- 
thorities compelled a Brandenburg captain in the latter harbor, 
one Arduin, to take on board a French captain, a steersman, and 
six French seamen and proceed to CartTiagena to warn Pointis 
and Du Casse of Nevell's whereabouts. The French fleet ar- 
rived in Brest on August 29 with the loss of but a single ship. 

Admiral Nevell was furious when he heard how the warning 
had been sent and fixed the blame upon the Danish authorities 
on St. Thomas, who were after all responsible for the govern- 
ment there. He wrote to the surrounding English governments 
that they should try to break up St. Thomas's trade on the sea, 
and three privateers from Curagao and several from Jamaica 
"were sent out to cruise on this island's vessels, to prevent the 
carrying on of trade with the French islands." ^* The conclusion 
of the Peace of Ryswick in September, 1697, helped presently to 
relieve the tension between St. Thomas and her neighbors. 

With the consummation of peace, however, piracy took the 
place of privateering.^^ During the course of the war it had been 

^^ Chevalier, in his Hisioire de la marine fraiiQaise (Paris, 1902), p. 205, mis- 
takenly places the date at June 7, 1696. Guerin (Histoire maritime de France, 
Paris, 1862) is probably more nearly accurate in placing the date of de Pointis' 
departiu-e at January 9, 1697 (IV, 69). 

" Cal. Col, 1696-97, No. 824 (March 18, 1697). 

24 Lorentz to Directors (October 19, 1697). C. B., 1690-1713. 

" Cal. Col, 1697-98, No. 269 (March 1, 1698) and passim. 



THE GOVERNORSHIP OF JOHN LORENTZ 113 

deemed necessary only to determine whether a prize had been 
legally condemned by a properly constituted admiralty court 
before it was offered for sale in a neutral port. After the peace 
it would be more necessary than ever for skippers to present a 
clean "bill of health" for ships brought into foreign harbors. 
The attitude of John Lorentz toward strange craft suspected of 
irregularities is well illustrated by his action in the case of cer- 
tain "rovers of the sea" of whom the most notorious is Captain 
Kidd. Captain Kidd has passed into tradition to such an extent 
that it may be interesting to see how this arch-pirate of legend 
impressed people of his own time who had had unusual facilities 
for studying men of his alleged profession at close range. Kidd 
appeared before St. Thomas harbor on April 6, 1699 (O. S.?) 
having lately come from Madagascar in the Quidah Merchant, 
a Genoese vessel of four hundred tons, thirty guns, and eighty 
men, and having been refused succor by the English at An- 
guilla.^^ His appearance and action may best be told in Gov- 
ernor Lorentz 's own words as he put them down at the time in 
his carefully kept diary. ^'^ 

"April 6. — ^Today, Maundy Thursday, there arrived before 
the harbor an EngHsh ship which anchored just outside of can- 
non range. Presently the captain sent his sloop [boat] ashore 
with a person on board who came to ask the vice commandant 
[i. e., Lorentz] whether he might come in free with his ship, 
which his men had compelled him to seize from the Moors in the 
East Indies — ^he could produce proof that he had been com- 
pelled to seize it. The vice-commandant answered that if he 
could produce proof in writing that he was an honest man, he 
might enter, which message he sent by Lieut. Claus Hansen and 
Peter Smith [a well-to-do merchant who had been associated 
with the Brandenburgers in the slave-trade] who, however, 
were not satisfied with his explanations, for he [Kidd] had re- 

26 Cal. Col, 1699, No. 404 (May 18); qf. Cal. Col, 1689-92, No. 136 (May 18, 
1689), where a letter from council of Nevis to Blathwayt has been dated 1689 
instead of 1699. 

2^ Lorentz's Journal (April 6, 1699, etc.). Lorentz spelled the captain's name 
Cidd. Maundy Thursday: the day preceding Good Friday, Green Thursday. 
The translation is not close, though reconstructed from very full notes. 



114 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

quested the vice-commandant to give him protection from the 
English royal ships, should they seek him here without orders, 
from which the vice-commandant saw that he was a pirate, and 
therefore deferred his answer till the morrow. 

"April 7. — In the morning the vice-commandant called the 
council together to consult as to whether or not the said sea- 
robber's request could be granted; but as he saw that it would 
produce considerable friction between this land and the English 
if the pirate were admitted and not delivered up on their re- 
quest, it was resolved that no word, beyond yesterday's mes- 
sage, should be sent to him. 

"A man came ashore . . . with a written request that Kidd 
receive protection on land until he could send a bark to New 
England, present his case there, and prove that he was no sea- 
robber, inasmuch as the governor there, Mylord Bellamont, was 
the chief owner in the ship in which he sailed out of England 
three years ago to cruise on the Red Sea for pirates. But his 
request was flatly refused him, and besides, he was forbidden 
to send his men ashore again unless they came into the harbor 
with the ship. 

"Long Friday was celebrated in the church today. 

"April 8. — Today the pirates lying outside the harbor 
have twice sent boats ashore at the harbor's point. The vice- 
commandant at once sent his men there, and they found that 
seven men had been put ashore who maintained that they were 
passengers . . . [and proved it]. Two of these secured permis- 
sion to take a canoe and fetch their baggage, but when they 
were on the way the ship spread sails and left, the canoe follow- 
ing. 

" Watch was kept in the harbor that night by Captain Vinck's 
boat." 

Although Captain Kidd was forced meekly to leave the harbor 
of St. Thomas in his leaky vessel, and ceases thereupon to have 
any personal connection with St. Thomas history, the island 
authorities were presently to concern themselves with part of 
his cargo, — his "treasure." On leaving St. Thomas, Kidd 
steered for San Domingo, but instead of risking putting in at 
Petit Goave, he stopped at the little island of Mona, just off the 



THE GOVERNORSHIP OF JOHN LORENTZ 115 

southeast coast of Hispaniola, and apparently he anchored 
later in the mouth of the "River Romano" near "Catherine" 
island on the same coast. ^* Here he was met — or followed — by 
traders from Curasao, Antigua, and St. Thomas, to whom he 
disposed of a large part of his cargo. According to information 
given by the St. Thomas trader, Peter Smith, to Nevis officials, 
one Henry Bolton of Antigua had furnished him with provisions, 
and had undertaken to act as his agent in getting rid of his 
cargo. To William Burke,^^ an Irish trader who had recently 
taken a cargo of slaves from Barbados to Carthagena, and who 
had done considerable business with the Dutch at Curasao in 
his time, Kidd sold one hundred and twenty or one hundred and 
thirty bales of muslin,^° and finally, when he had disposed of 
nearly all of his cargo, he bought a smaller boat (from Bolton?) 
and left for New York.^^ There he was to attempt to prove his 
innocence before Lord Bellamont, part owner of the ship in 
which he had left England, and the admiralty judges. 

On Friday, May 27, 1699, about seven weeks after Kidd's 
departure, Burke came into St. Thomas on an English barken - 
tine, approached Governor Lorentz, and asked the favor of a 
private interview. With only Madame Lorentz present to act 
as interpreter, Burke stated that he had been with the sea- 
robber Captain "Cidd" and that if the governor would partic- 
ipate with him, a large profit could be got from the said pirate. 
To this the governor vigorously replied that he would have 
nothing to do with pirates, and thereby give the land an evil 
reputation. But if Lorentz was unwilling to receive the stolen 
goods, the Brandenburg factor, Van Belle, had no such scruples. 
That very night the searobbers' goods were landed and stored 
in the Brandenburg warehouse. The guard had informed the 
governor of the stir in the harbor during the night, so the latter 
began an investigation on the following day with a view to 
finding out whether Van Belle had made the investment on his 
own account or on that of the Brandenburg company. 

28 Cal. Col. 1699, No. 616, I (July 7), No. 680, IX (July 10). 

2* Also spelled Bourck, Burch, Burcke. 

'« Cal. Col., 1699, No. 616, I (July 7). 

^' Lands-Protokoller for St. Thomas . . . 1694-1711 (June 7, 1699). 



116 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

The governor's prompt measures alarmed the Brandenburg 
officials. Their bookkeeper, Si vert Hoesz, as well as Burke, 
came to parley with him in the hope of reaching an agreement. 
On Monday the governor managed to seize some of the goods 
which had been brought into the house of an inhabitant. ^^ Lor- 
entz, in a letter written July 4, 1699, mentions fifteen small 
packages and sixty sacks of saltpetre as having been seized and 
placed in the fort.^^ Perhaps these included the goods referred 
to. On June 1 Burke was arrested, to be released on June 7, 
when the suit against him was begun. In the course of the 
hearing, Burke testified that besides Van Belle, Messrs. Beck 
and Moyart from Curagao and some gentlemen on Barbados 
had a share in the cargo in question,^^ and that he remembered 
having paid Kidd 12,000 pieces-of-eight. A [Brandenburg.?] 
gunner testified that he had recorded delivery of 158 packages, 
large and small, into the Brandenburg magazine. The court 
concluded that Van Belle must have been cognizant of the 
origin of the goods, and that he should therefore have a protest 
sent to him, charging him with action prejudicial to the island, 
that Burke should pay a fine of 300 pieces-of-eight for his In- 
solentie, and deposit 5,000 pieces-of-eight by way of guarantee 
that Kidd's title to the goods was a legal one.^^ 

In his letter to the directors describing the affair, Lorentz 
mentions their having fined Van Belle 5,000 rdl.,^^ which helps 
to confirm a suspicion that the latter was forced to put up the 
deposit for Burke, who was only a go-between. The governor 
refrained from seizing those goods which actually reached the 
Brandenburg magazine. They were eventually put on board 
the Brandenburg ship, the Seven Provinces, which Lorentz re- 

^2 Lorentz' s Journal (May 27, etc., 1699). 

'3 Lorentz to Directors (July 4, 1699). C. B.. 1690-1713. In a letter of April 
15, 1700, Lorentz informed the Directors that he had caused the 69 sacks of 
saltpetre and 12 bales of cotton and "Netteldug" to be loaded on the Christian 
V on the company's account. 

3* Burke case (June 7, 1699). Lands-Prot.. 16H-1711. 

'^ Ibid. The court was composed of the governor and John (Johannes) de 
Windt, Thomas Berentsen. Claus (Claes) Hansen, J. Rasmussen and Abraham 
Matheusen, who signed with his mark. 

^'' Lorentz to Directors (June 19. 1699). C. B., 1690-1713. 



THE GOVERNORSHIP OF JOHN LORENTZ 117 

ported to be laden with "a deal of searobbers' goods, of pock- 
wood, some cotton and money," for no sugar was to be had.^^ 
The governor and council considered the case extremely grave. 
The governor's instructions had expressly prohibited him from 
having dealings with pirates, but from the point of view of the 
colony it was just as dangerous for the Brandenburgers to engage 
in such traffic as for the Danes, for the Company would be held 
responsible in any case. Councilor Claus Hansen was sent over 
on the Danish ship Gyldenlove, Captain Vinck, which left St. 
Thomas on June 20, 1699, provided with documents to prove 
where the responsibility for collusion with the pirates really 
lay.^^ 

The problem for the Danes in the West Indies was how to 
convince the English that there was no collusion between them 
and the pirates. From New York, the Carolinas, and the 
Bahamas, came complaints from zealous English officials like 
Edward Randolph against the encouragement given to piracy 
and to evasion of the acts of navigation.^^ In the West Indies, 
the Danes and the Dutch were held largely responsible for such 
wrong-doings, although it was the attitude of the planters that 
made smuggling practically impossible to repress. The Enghsh 
had made some progress in discouraging piracy when they 
succeeded in getting Captain Kidd shipped off to England for 
trial. Local laws did not permit hanging, and conviction by local 
authorities would have been problematical. ^° Another victory 
for the forces of order was secured when Bolton was seized and 
brought to England for trial.^^ 

With respect to Burke they were less lucky. Threats of 
Rear-admiral Benbow, who appeared at St. Thomas in October, 
1699, with a ship of fifty-four pieces and two small frigates of 
twenty or twenty-two guns each, could not make the governor 
give up Burke, who had sought refuge with the Brandenburgers, 

" Lorentz to Directors, Gov. C. B., 16H-1700 (August 10, 1699), 
^* Lorentz' s Journal (June 20, 1699). 

^' Edward Randolph was Collector of Customs and Deputy Auditor for New 
England. Beer, op. cit., I, 222. 

*° See, e. g. Cat. Col., 1701. No. 180 (February 19). 

*i Cal. Col., 1699. No. 1034 (December 4); ibid., 1701, No. 26 (January 11). 



118 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

or surrender the money that Burke (or Van Belle) had deposited 
in the Company's treasury. ^^ Instead, Benbowmade a report on 
the island and its harbor, in which he stated that it " would be of 
great use to our English nation in case of war in these parts," 
that it could be easily fortified, whereas at present it was but 
"a receptacle for thieves," ^^ The stubbornness of Lorentz, 
whose main concern was the retention of the five thousand 
pieces-of-eight and the seized goods for the Company, led the 
Earl of Bellamont, the English governor of New York, to con- 
tend that Burke had bought protection from the Danish gov- 
ernor with the proceeds of Kidd's spoils.^* His statement that 
Burke "will not be parted with" turned out entirely true, for in 
August, 1701, that pirates' friend was reported out of reach of 
the arm of English law in the French part of St, Kitts.*^ Lorentz 
was able to assume so bold a front because he knew through in- 
formation secured by Peter Smith on Nevis that Admiral Ben- 
bow was merely putting up a bluffing game, and was exceeding 
his orders in the hope of forcing the restitution of Kidd's and 
Burke's boat,"^ 

In July, 1699, another Madagascar pirate. Tempest Roger 
(or Rogers) a former acquaintance of Kidd's from those regions, 
appeared in St. Thomas harbor to ask leave to repair his ship, 
but he was not allowed to remain. ^^ But pirates did not always 
get off so easily. In a letter written in April, 1700, Lorentz 
mentions having meted out exemplary punishment to four out 
of nine pirates "who came here some time ago," leaving the fate 
of the remaining five in the hands of the directors, ^^ Their con- 
fiscated goods, amounting to 2,600 rdl., helped to justify his 
zeal for the interests of his masters and make the performance 
of duty doubly joyous, 

*2 Lorentz to Directors (November 9, 1699). Gov. C. B., 16H-1700; Cal. Col., 
1699. No. 907 (October 28). 

^s Benbow to Vernon, Cal. Col.. 1699, No. 907 (October 28). 

4^ Bellamont to Lords of Trade, ibid.. No. 890 (October 23, 1699). 

" Codrington (Antigua) to Council of Trade, ibid., 1701. No. 784 (August 25). 

« Lorentz to Directors (November 9, 1699). Oov. C. B., 169i-1700. 

"Same to same, ibid. (August 10, 1699); Cal. CoL, 1699, No. 880, II (Au- 
gust 17, etc.); ibid.. 1700, No. 848 (October 18). 

« Lorentz to Directors (April 15, 1700). C. B.. 1690-1713. 



THE GOVERNORSHIP OF JOHN LORENTZ 119 

The willingness of the Brandenburg factor to encourage un- 
lawful commerce did not escape the English Leeward Islands 
governors. In September, 1698, Van Belle attempted to send 
two score slaves to St. Kitts in a boat flying a Danish flag, but 
a Mr. Mead, the English commissioner and collector of customs 
at Nevis, seized them, apparently on the basis of the first clause 
of the Act of Navigation, which provided that "no goods or 
commodities whatsoever shall be imported into or exported out 
of any of his Majesty's plantations except in English or Planta- 
tion shipping, and manned as specified in the Act." The Coun- 
cil of Trade and Plantations were not disposed to intervene in 
Van Belle's behalf, since they had "rather much reason to sus- 
pect him well versed in methods of interloping and trading there 
illegally, a practice very prejudicial to [British] service and 
interests." ^^ 

From the various circumstances above related it will be seen 
that the governor's position at St. Thomas was not a sinecure. 
He must stand ready to assert the claims of King and Company 
against all comers. In 1698 the governor sent an expedition to 
Crab Island to protest against its occupation by that Scotch 
Darien company promoted by William Paterson, an enterprise 
through which the sponsors hoped to revolutionize Caribbean 
commerce.^*' The conscientious governor must discriminate 
between legal and illegal commerce, he must permit the Bran- 
denburgers a certain stipulated freedom in trade without en- 
dangering Danish sovereignty on the island. He must keep on 
good terms with the planters, prevent uprisings among the 

« Peter Vanbelle (Van BeUe) to king. Cal. Col., 1699, No. 648, I (July 13); 
Council of Trade and Plantations to Earl of Jersey, ibid.. No. 685 (July 27). 

s° Lorentz to Directors (October 12, 1698), Gov. C. B., 169^.-1700; Cal. Col., 
1699, No. 866 (October 16): Host, op. cit., 40 et seq., gives Lorentz's protest to 
Captain Robert Pinkerton, of October 2, 1698, and extracts from Lieut. Clans 
Hansen's Journal of the Danish expedition to Crab Island. It is curious to note 
that as early as October 15/25, 1688, four "English (sic) merchants" had ap- 
plied to the Elector of Brandenburg for an octroi for a new "American Com- 
pany." The names given by Walter (Schiick, II, 528) are Heinrich Bulen, 
Wilhelm Pocock, William Paterson, and James Schmitten. The only one of 
these who is mentioned in the act of Parliament of June 26, 1695, incorpo- 
rating the Darien Company, is Paterson. For James Smith see p. 189 above. 



1^0 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

negroes, and maintain good relations with the neighboring 
governments. He must see to it that the Company's planta- 
tions and magazine pay a surplus above their expenses, and 
particularly that homeward-bound ships of the Company have 
a good cargo that will enable the shareholders to secure dividends 
on their investment. That even as capable a man as John 
Lorentz should be successful in all these respects was quite im- 
possible, but that he should be able to hold his position until 
his death, and retain possession of the island against the threats 
of Spaniards and English, is somethuig for which he deserves no 
little credit. 

Lorentz was always alive to what he considered the Com- 
pany's best interests. His prompt report of John Mathew 
Leers' attempt to lease the island in 1695 helped to nip that 
proposal in the bud, for he wrote that the rumor had "caused 
considerable grumbling among the inhabitants, who had all 
sworn to leave the land if it were leased out again." ^^ His letters 
concerning the lucrativeness of the slave trade led the share- 
holders of the Company to undertake with Jacob Lerke the 
sending of a ship to Guinea for a cargo of slaves, and eventually 
brought the Company into the business on its own account.^" 

On June 10, 1702, Governor John Lorentz died in office, the 
first governor save one to obtain that distinction.^^ Of the six- 
teen years that had elapsed since he first arrived in St. Thomas 
as an humble "assistant," he had served the Company eleven 
years as its governor. Under his clear-headed and vigorous 
guidance, the Company had been brought from bankruptcy to 
solvency, and its colony had become firmly established in the 
Caribbean. 

" Lorentz to Directors (May 8, 1695), C. B., 1690-1713. The Leers' project 
was supported by the Brandenburgers, who expected to be able to agree with 
Leers better than with the Danish company. Schiick (I, 248, 249) discusses the 
matter, but is unable from the Brandenburg documents to explain why it was 
dropped. 

52 Ibid (November 30, 1696), Gov. C. B., 16H-1700. 

5^ Christopher Helns. See above, p. 80. 



CHAPTER VI 

ST. THOMAS AND ST. JOHN AS PLANTATION COLONIES (1688-1733) 

If the importance of the history of the Danish islands in the 
West Indies is to be judged by the extent of the interests in- 
volved, or is to be measured by the actual influence of the is- 
lands upon the history of the Caribbean or on the state of Den- 
mark-Norway, the propriety of devoting an entire volume to 
them might well be questioned. But if a rather detailed study 
will disclose the rise of a fairly typical plantation society, if it 
will show on a small scale the sort of thing that took place in 
West Indian lands in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 
on a large scale, such as the rise of the sugar industry and the 
slave trade, the eflFort need require no apology. For the islands 
reflected very distinctly the economic solidarity of the West In- 
dian community at a time when it was looked upon as one of 
the main sources of the world's wealth. 

St. Thomas can scarcely be said to have assumed its place as 
a regular plantation colony until 1688, when the Company's 
accounts first began to be kept in money instead of sugar. In 
that year the first census was taken, and although not a scien- 
tific affair, its results are not without interest.^ This report 
showed that there were 90 plantations surveyed, and a total 
white planting population to record of just 148. These were 
distributed among eleven nationalities as follows: 66 Dutch, 31 
English, 17 Danes and Norwegians, 17 French, 4 Irish, 4 Flem- 
ish, 3 Germans, 3 Swedes, and one each of Scotch, Brazilians, 
and Portuguese. Of the 76 adults listed, 56 are entered as plant- 
ers, 5 as carpenters, 2 as planters and merchants, and one each 
as minister (Lutheran), schoolmaster, fisher, captain on the 

^ Land Lister for St. Thomas, 1688. The figures given in Host, op. cit., 29, vary- 
slightly from those given here. The report was signed by Franz Martens, who 
was a member of the council and a tavern keeper, Andreas Brock, who acted 
as secretary, and Sigmont Liick. 

[121] 



122 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

Company's bark, tavern keeper, overseer, turner, planter and 
tailor, and planter and miller. In the village of Charlotte 
Amalia,^ 37 persons were enumerated, of whom 21 were adults 
(12 men and 9 women), 11 were children, one was an indentured 
servant, and 4 were negroes. Of the adults, 8 were Dutch, 4 
were Danish, 3 were English; there was one each of French, 
Spanish, and "high German" inhabitants, while the nationality 
of the remaining three was not recorded. The trades repre- 
sented in the village and the number in each were: tailor, 2; 
innkeeper, 1; seamstress, 1; shoemaker, 1; carpenter, 2; black- 
smith, 1; and cotton ginner, 1. Among the 21 adults were 10 
Calvinists (Reformed), 7 Lutherans (distributed among high 
Germans, Danes, and Dutch), and 2 Catholics. The number of 
white men, women, and children in the island totalled 317, and 
the negroes 422, which latter figure includes one Carib Indian, 
three squaws, and three mulatto women. In the census taken 
three years later (1691), just when Thormohlen's proprietor- 
ship began, the information seems to have been gathered with 
greater precision, especially with regard to the plantations. 
The increase from 317 whites in 1688 to 399 in 1691 was no 
doubt partly due to the publication of the edict concerning the 
eight years' exemption from taxes offered to new settlers, 
coupled with the outbreak of hostilities in Europe. The num- 
ber of negroes had risen at a rather more rapid rate, they num- 
bering 555, of whom 361 were put down as "capable," which 
meant full-grown negroes capable of performing their full quota 
of work.^ 

It must be borne in mind that despite the voluminous na- 
ture of the census records, they are not such as to permit the 
investigator to claim absolute accuracy for the figures drawn 
from them. They will, on the whole, give a reasonably ac- 
curate idea of the actual state of affairs in many respects; but 
with regard to the number of slaves, especially in the second 
decade of the next century and after, when St. Thomas has be- 

^ Charlotte Amalia, the name which the port of St. Thomas still bears, was 
named in honor of the queen of Christian V, in whose time the town was founded. 
For present-day view of town, see photo facing p. 257. 

* One Indian squaw and four children are included in the list of negroes. 



ST. THOMAS AND ST. JOHN AS PLANTATION COLONIES 123 

come the home of a class of capitaHst planters, the figures 
quoted will invariably be lower than they should be. Governor 
Bredal, writing to the directors in 1718, complained that the 
plantation owners did not fill out their records concerning the 
poll and land taxes they were supposed to pay, " but the planters 
let their negroes hide themselves for the time being in the forest, 
and only a few of them are to be seen.^ 

By 1691, the number of plantations had increased to one 
hundred and one. Only twenty-eight of these had been under 
cultivation for eight years or more, while the average length of 
time that each of the plantations had been cultivated amounted 
to just four years, eleven months. The newness of the colony 
is further seen by the fact that as yet only five plantations were 
devoted to sugar cane even in part, while on 87 cotton was the 
chief product. Provisions ("Cost" or "Kaast"), which in- 
cluded cassava, millet and maize, were raised on nine-tenths of 
the plantations. Eventually, the negroes were allotted plots 
of ground on which they raised their own food supply. Indigo 
culture had been begun. In 1699 Peter Smith was the only 
person who planted indigo, though others had tried it before 
him.^ In their instructions issued to Adolph Esmit in 1687 
before his departure for St. Thomas, the directors named 
cotton, indigo, tobacco, pockwood, and other valuable dye 
woods as the chief products of the island. 

The failure of the inhabitants to plant much sugar was as- 
cribed to their having taken up the "fattest" land from the 
start, whereas the "poorer" and stonier land was really better 
suited to the sugar cane. The northern and more fertile slopes 
were naturally taken up later than the southern and more ac- 
cessible side. The hope of the directors that rice and vine cul- 
ture be given a trial seems not to have been justified by ex- 
perience.^ In 1689 the governor and council proposed that a 

* E. Bredal to Directors (March, 1718), B. & D., 1717-1720. 

^ The Company had indigo "works" as early as 1688. CJ. A. E. Esmit's 
Journal (June 19, 1688); Lorentz to Directors (February 20, 1699), C. B., 16H- 
1700. 

^ Millet ("Milien," or "Millie,") was used quite commonly for food for the 
slaves; "tobi" and cacao were also mentioned by the directors as worthy of 
attention. Directors' instructions to Esmit (November 9, 1687). Heins re- 



124 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

sugar mill should be put up on Milan's former plantation, and 
ventured the opinion that if sugar cane should prove successful 
on the Company's plantations, it would prove more profitable 
than cotton or tobacco/ The main reason for the Company's 
having hitherto received so scant returns from its investment 
was explained by the fact that the older islands yielded more 
sugar than the newly settled.® As the area devoted to sugar 
increased, the culture of tobacco decreased. There was always 
a good market for the latter in Denmark, however, and to- 
bacco from Porto Rico, Virginia, and other regions ^frequently 
found a place in the Company's homeward-bound cargoes. 

Sugar and cotton remained the leading products during the 
period under discussion. The sugar cane was cut by the ne- 
groes with a sort of hatchet called kapmesser, and carried by 
them to the mill or "sugar works" with which the greater part 
of the plantations after 1700 were usually provided.® In 1696 
Governor Lorentz reported seven sugar mills to be at work pro- 
ducing brown sugar, which was to be sent to Denmark by a 
ship expected from Copenhagen.^" By 1715, the number of 
sugar plantations provided with mills had reached thirty-two 
out of a total of forty plantations devoted solely to sugar, ^^ The 
motive power was furnished mainly by windmills, though these 
came gradually to be supplemented by treadmills turned by 
mule-power. Compared with modern methods the waste was 
of course tremendous. At least ten negroes were required to 
keep one such mill running; two, who were called "rollers," 
feeding the cane stalks between the upright wooden cylinders, 

ported a successful trial in growing ginger. Heins to Directors (January 2, 
1689), B. & D., 1683-89. 

^ Resolutions of governor and council (February 19, 1689). The members 
of the council were Henry Irgens, Joachim Delicaet, John de Windt, and John 
Lorentz. 

8 Heins to Directors (August 20, 1689). B. & D. 1683-89. 

* See Appendix H., p. 318. 

>» Lorentz to Directors (November 30, 1696), C. B.. 1690-17U. 

" Land Lister for St. Thomas, 1715. For description of an eighteenth century 
sugar mill, see Oxholm, De danske vcstindiske ocrs Tilstand . . ., pp. 44 et seq., 
and J. C. Schmidt, Blandede Anmcerkninger samlede paa og over Ejlandet St. 
Kroix . . . {Samleren, 1788, 2 B). 



ST. THOMAS AND ST. JOHN AS PLANTATION COLONIES 125 

others carrying in the fresh stalks and removing the crushed 
ones. An ax always lay near at hand, with which to amputate 
the arm of the careless negro whose hand might get caught by 
the revolving cylinders; for when help was scarce, even three- 
quarters of a negro was better than none. 

The juice of the cane required expert handling, and negroes 
who were adept at boiling sugar brought fancy prices. As the 
juice was transferred from one copper kettle to another and 
larger one, until it had run the gamut of a " battery " of three or 
four kettles, the foam was removed and used for the distilla- 
tion of rum. The crystallized sugar was finally "cured" in the 
coolers in the curing house, and emptied from these into molds. 
The molasses which was drained oS went to the distillery to 
help make rum. With great, husky blacks cutting cane in the 
fields, with negro boys leading the loaded mules or asses to the 
mill, with still others to carry in the stalks and to tend to the 
crushing, boiling, and distilling, the scene presented during 
harvest must have been a busy and noisy one indeed. 

The cotton plantations were smaller and more numerous than 
those devoted to sugar. They, too, were usually provided with 
"works" where the cotton was ginned. The proportion of the 
number of plantations devoted to the raising of cotton as com- 
pared with the entire number fell from eighty per cent, in 1691 
to forty-four per cent, in 1715, and rose again to fifty per cent, 
by 1733. Of the total number of plantations, the part devoted 
to sugar rose from five per cent, in 1691 to thirty-five per cent, 
in 1720, falling back to twenty-four per cent, in 1733. The de- 
cline shown by the figures for 1733 is due to a series of mis- 
fortunes, of which drought, storms, and disasters at sea formed 
a part.^^ 

The cotton production was worth perhaps a third to a fourth 
as much as the sugar. It is impossible to determine the exact 
ratio or the exact amount, for the planters frequently refused to 
sell their produce to the Company, and the factura or invoices of 
the cargoes often include items from neighboring islands. 

The "boom" period in early St. Thomas history was the first 
decade and a half of the eighteenth century, substantially the 
^2 See Appendix H., p. 318. 



126 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

period of the War of the Spanish Succession. This was due to a 
variety of causes, both local and general. John Lorentz, with 
Juel and Moth, had done much to put the Brandenburg African 
Company out of the running. Quarrels within that company's 
management had done the rest. 

The revival of the Danish company's slave trade had bene- 
fited both it and the planters. The liberties allowed the latter 
in disposing of their plantation produce had helped to make 
them capitalists. This prosperity is indicated by the increase 
in the number of plantations laid out just after the opening of 
the new century. In the years 1692 to 1700 only fourteen new 
plantations were assigned to planters. ^^ These plantations had a 
total working force of seventy-nine slaves. By 1705 an addi- 
tional thirty-seven new plantations had been laid out, with a 
working force in that year of two hundred and eighty slaves. 
From 1691 to 1715, the total number of plantations had risen 
from one hundred and one to one hundred and sixty. It is the 
increase of negroes, both relatively and absolutely, that gives 
the most striking proof of the rapid development of St. Thomas 
as a plantation colony during these years. While the number of 
white men, women, and children increased only from three 
hundred and eight-nine to five hundred and forty-seven (1:1.4), 
the number of negro slaves increased from five hundred and fifty- 
five to three thousand and forty-two (1 : 5.5), during the same in- 
terval (1691-1715). In other words, the number of slaves had 
risen nearly four times as fast as the number of whites. 

John Lorentz had laid the foundations of a fiscal system by 
which the inhabitants of the colony bore a proper share of the 
expenses of the civil government. These expenses were largely 
defrayed by a poll and a land or "ground" tax. The poll tax, 
which appears first to have been collected in the year 1692-1693, 
amounted to 23/^ rdl. for each planter and for each "capable" 
slave, and to 13^ rdl. for the planter's wife and for each of his 
adult children. For "manquerons," or those unable to do a full 

'^ Land Lister for St. Thomas. The names of the planters as they appear in the 
records are: David Liron, Reynier Claever, Jean Cramy, Zent van Wundergem, 
Jan Arnout, Samson Burin, Mintje de Tooy, Jiirgen Hansen, Mathias Terling, 
Jiirgen Carstensen, Joris van Overschelde, Pieter de Windt. 



ST. THOMAS AND ST. JOHN AS PLANTATION COLONIES 127 

day's work, and for minor white children, the planters were not 
required to pay any poll tax. The land tax on St. Thomas (and 
St. John after its occupation and the expiration of the eight 
years of exemption) was assessed according to the width of the 
plantation, the length being in most instances fixed at three 
hundred feet.^^ For each one hundred feet in width, the planter 
paid 10 styver, or 20 skilling. 

Inasmuch as the width of the sugar plantations on St. Thomas 
in 1733 averaged one thousand five hundred and forty feet, and 
the average number of negroes employed on each one was a 
trifle over twenty -six, the amount due from each planter in poll 
and ground taxes amounted to about 3 rdl., 1 mark, for the 
latter, and nearly 70 rdl. for the former tax. Similarly, the 
owner of a sugar plantation on St. John, of average width and 
average slave equipment (thirteen negroes), would have to pay 
nearly 2 rdl. in land tax and 35 rdl. in poll tax. 

So long as the returns were properly made out by the planters, 
the burden would seem to have fallen upon the persons taxed 
very nearly in proportion to their ability to pay. Indigent 
persons were indeed, as a rule, entirely exempted from the pay- 
ment of the poll tax.^^ The indirect taxes that the planters were 
forced to pay through being obliged in certain cases to sell their 
produce to the company, or to ship them on the company's 
vessels, and to buy goods needed from the Company's magazine, 
will be discussed in another comiection. 

St. John had been claimed by the Danes as early as the first 
administration of Adolph Esmit. In a letter written early in 
1684, the latter mentions having made an attempt through two 
moneyed merchants from Barbados to set up "works" (forts?) 
on St. John; but the English governor, Stapleton, sent two 
sloops over to the island, thus driving away forty men sent 
over by the Barbados merchants. "This is the third time," 
wrote the Danish governor, "that he has driven our people 
[from St. John?]".!^ On his return to St. Thomas in 1688, 
Esmit was instructed to attempt the settlement of St. John by 

^* The Danish foot is slightly longer than the English. 

15 L. L., St. Th., 'passim. 

i« Esmit to Du-ectors (January 26, 1684), A. E., 1682-89. 



128 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

placing from four to six men there and encouraging them to 
begin planting, ^^ but it was not until 1717 that the project was 
actually carried out. In November, 1716, Governor Erik 
Bredal wrote the directors that many of the St. Thomas in- 
habitants were inclined to go to settle St. John, but that they 
were held back solely by fear of the English, who were unwilling 
to let any nation go there to cut down the timber. ^^ On the 
twenty-fifth of the following March, the governor had a vessel 
loaded with guns and ammunition, and with provisions from a 
ship that had recently brought in a cargo of flour, meat, etc., 
to take him to St. John with twenty planters, sixteen negroes, 
and five soldiers. 

"I have planted there the flag of our most gracious king, and 
fired a salute," wrote the governor, "and then we feasted, and 
drank the health, first of our sovereign, and then of the Com- 




pany. Later, I selected a place on which to build a fort, a con- 
venient location which commands the inlet to the harbor as well 
as the harbor itself, and a level space beneath it on which a 
village can stand. The harbor is quite secure, and when a person 
is within it ... he sees land all about him, I have permitted 
the planters to indicate which pieces of land they preferred, and 
have selected a place for the Company's plantation just a 
cannon-shot distant from the fort (which is to be built there). 
Later the planters have returned because of their fear of the 
English and are simply waiting cautiously to see what the latter 
will attempt. . . ."^^ 

" Directors' instructions to Esmit (November 9, 1687). A. E., 1682-89. 

'8 Bredal and Council to Directors (November 24, 1716), B. & D.. 1717-20. In 
a letter dated July 23, 1715, Governor Crone and council informed the directors 
that John Henry Sieben had recently proposed, on behalf of himself and fifteen 
other planters from St. Thomas, to begin the occupation and cultivation of St. 
John. B. & D., 1714-17. 

" Bredal to Directors (May 8, 1718), B. & D., 1717-20. " Thi defrygterfor de 
Engelske og sidder ikkun og lurer paa, hvad de ville tentere." 



ST. THOMAS AND ST. JOHN AS PLANTATION COLONIES 129 

Meantime Bredal proceeded to have the ground cleared for 
the fort, and a road cut through the brush for bringing up the 
nine four-pounders that were to guard the fort. The five 
soldiers under a Danish officer, named Axel Dahl, and the sixteen 
negroes, took charge of this preparatory work. When the 
English Leeward Islands' governor, General W. Hamilton, saw 
that the Danish efforts were serious, he sent John Marshall, the 
"Capt. Commendant" of Hamilton's regiment, with the man- 
of-war Scarborough, one of the two English ships then in West 
Indian waters, to St. Thomas to forbid the Danes to occupy 
St. John, hinting that they had no good right to St. Thomas 
itself.^" Bredal replied firmly that whatever he was doing was 
being done on the authority of his sovereign, and he was not 
aware of having transgressed his rights. "If they [the directors] 
would only assist me with a hundred men," the governor pleaded 
in his letter to the directors, "I well believe that when the 
English come with their two ships . . . they will not perform 
any great miracles." 

Despite the report of English threats that they would dis- 
lodge the infant settlement, the work went on. After long 
searching fresh water was found on the island. This not only 
made it unnecessary to bring water by boat from St. Thomas, 
but made it possible to begin work promptly on the fort, which 
required fresh water for the lime and the cistern. ^^ Maize and 
sweet potatoes (Pataiter) were planted in the cleared space to 
furnish provisions for the negroes. ^^ 

According to the ordinance issued by the St. Thomas govern- 
ment on March 24, 1718, the St. John planters were required to 
have one white man on each plantation within three months 
from the time it was taken up; exemption from taxes was granted 
for the first eight years as on St. Thomas; sugar mills were to be 
erected within five years on pain of confiscation; and planters 
were to be permitted to take as much lime and wood as they 

^oHamUton to Bredal (November 19, 1717), B. & D., 1717-20; see also 
John Mars[e]hairs "Explication" (undated), ibid. Both Hamilton's letter 
and Marshall's "Explication " are copies. 

" Bredal to Directors (May 8, 1718). Ibid. 

22 Bredal to Directors (July 8, 1718). Ibid. 



130 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

needed.^^ By 1720-1721, thirtj'^-mne planters had received deeds 
to plantations on St. John.^'* 

The early inhabitants came entirely from St. Thomas and 
were equally varied in their nationality. Nine of these were 
Danes, five were French Huguenot refugees or of refugee stock, 
and nearly all the rest were Dutch. Their coming was prompted 
by a variety of motives. Some had sunk hopelessly into debt on 
St. Thomas, others had had badly located plantations there, 
while many of them naturally expected to improve their previous 
state. Their plantations were nearly fifty per cent, larger than 
those on St. Thomas, their average width being one thousand 
five hundred and fifty-six feet. The number of negroes held at 
this early period cannot be ascertained, but within a decade of 
the actual settlement, — namely in 1728 — there were one hun- 
dred and twenty-three whites to six hundred and seventy-seven 
blacks (1: 5.5), while in 1733, the year of the first serious slave 
insurrection, the whites numbered two hundred and eight, and 
the slaves one thousand and eighty-seven, a slightly higher 
ratio of white inhabitants (1: 5.2).^^ Although the number of 
plantations was increased only twenty-five per cent, in those 
five years, the number of negroes on them increased sixty per 
cent. Nevertheless in 1733 St. John had but ten negroes on the 
average to each plantation, to St. Thomas's twenty-five. 

The Company went' into the plantation business on its own 
account early in its career. The encouragement that it was ex- 
pected to give to plantation life on St. Thomas undoubtedly 
accounts in large part for the willingness of the Company's di- 
rectors to permit the Brandenburgers to establish a factory 

^' Conditioner tilataaed St. Jans Indvaanere (March 24, 1718), Ibid. 

^* See Appendix H., p. 407. 

^^ Governor Frederick Moth wrote to the Directors early in 1726: "St. John is 
now entirely settled, [so] that there is no more land left to give away except at 
the Fort, and the Company's plantation, which is still lying idle, as it is not 
yet surveyed. . . . Next year the greater number of the St. John inhabitants 
are to begin paying the poll and land tax. There are already about 20 sugar 
works built, and others in process of building, so that I calculate that St. John 
will produce 600,000 to 800,000 pounds of sugar, besides [some] cotton, on [all of] 
which customs duties must be paid. ..." Moth to Directors (March 6, 1726), 
B. & D.. 172]f-27. 



ST. THOMAS AND ST. JOHN AS PLANTATION COLONIES 131 

there. The failure of the latter to found a plantation was the 
chief basis for the complaints made by Danish diplomats con- 
cerning the failure of the Brandenburg African Company to 
fulfil its treaty obligations. The first plantation, the Com- 
pany's "Sugar Plantation," appears to have been established 
in the Old Quarter on the southeast shore of the Great Northside 
Bay. The second of the Company's plantations was probably 
the "New Quarter Plantation," built on or near the present 
"Ny Herrnhut" midway between Long and Jerse Bays. The 
third and smallest plantation was located at Mosquito Bay, 
from which the plantation took its name. The Company also 
secured a plantation on Krum Bay (or Crum Bay) which 
seems to have been of little value, and was sold at auction in 
1726, at which time the Mosquito Bay Plantation was disposed 
of .^® Lorentz's proposal to have the Company start a plantation 
at Crab-Pan Bay on the southwest side seems not to have been 
followed up. 

The size of the Company's plantations has been impossible 
to ascertain because of the confused and complicated system 
of bookkeeping that prevailed and the omission of reference 
to them in the census reports (Land Lister). The latter fact 
is explained by the circumstance that the purpose of the annual 
census was to ascertain the amount of taxes due from each 
inhabitant. Naturally the Company did not propose to tax 
itself. A fairly accurate idea of its planting activities may be 
gained from an examination of the number of negroes credited 
to the Company's account year by year. The greater part of 
these must have been employed on the plantations, though 
the number, no doubt, includes those used at the Company's 
forts and magazines. In 1698, when the Company was begin- 
ning to take oA^er the Guinea trade, it owned 178 slaves, whose 
inventory value was placed at 9,043 rdl., or about 50 rdl. each. 
In the same year the "Sugar Plantation" was valued at 3,654, 
the "New Quarter Plantation" at 3,763, and the "Mosquito 
Bay Plantation" at 536 rdl. The eflPect of the War of the Span- 
ish Succession on St. Thomas plantation life is indicated by the 

^ The purchaser was Governor Frederick Moth. See Negotie Journal for St. 
Th. (August 29, 1726). 



132 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

figures for 1705. At this time, when the island was prepared 
to reap the advantages of Danish neutrality, the number of 
negroes had jumped to 251, their inventory value to 13,441 
rdl. (53.7 rdl. each), while the three plantations were entered 
on the books at 6,289, 3,141, and 905 rd/. respectively. Although 
the second had fallen eight per cent, in value, the first had in- 
creased seventy-two and one-half per cent, and the third sixty- 
nine per cent, over its inventory value in 1698. After 1715 
the value of the plantation as recorded in the books remains 
stationary, while the number of the negroes gradually decreases 
from two hundred thirty-eight in 1716 to one hundred ninety- 
six in 1726.27 

The following table, while based upon a careful examination 
of the Company's books, is not presented as giving an absolutely 
dependable picture of the plantations as dividend-paying propo- 
sitions. It is never quite certain that accounts have not been 
"doctored" for emergencies, or that the intricacies of the 
elaborate bookkeeping of two centuries ago have been con- 
pletely solved. In fact the officials themselves were at times 
hopelessly tangled in the meshes of their own system. 

THE COMPANY'S PLANTATIONS ON ST. THOMAS 
Abbreviations: S. PI., Company's "Sugar Plantation"; N. Q., "New Quarter Plantation"; 
M. B., "Mosquito Bay Plantation." 

Year 1690 1691 1693 1698 1700 1701 1702 170328 1704 
Total negroes. . 122.. 158.. 191.. 178.. 180.. 176.. 177.. [69]29 

Value of ne- 
groes 10,957.. 14,038.. 16,144.. 9,043.. 9,504.. 9,380.. 9,500.. 4,019.. 

Valueof S. PI.. 4,572.. 4,743.. 7,122.. 3,651.. 3,654.. 3,638.. 4,155.. 5,415. .6.374 

ValueofN. Q.. 2.318.. 3,300.. 6,371.. 3,414.. 3,763.. 3,763.. 3,679.. 2,981.. 3,206 

ValueofM.B. 457.. 457.. 1,112.. 536.. 536.. 536.. 536.. 380.. 905 

Total invest- 
ment 18,424. .22,538. .30.74930 16,644. .17,457. . 17,317. .17,870. . 12.795. . 

Proceeds from 

S. PI 1,137.. 2,026.. 2,514.. 2,941.. 2,422.. 807.. 2,260.. 2,219.. 2,849 

Proceeds from 

N. Q 410.. 3,486.. 2,351.. 1,441.. 1,337.. 720.. 936.. 369.. 1,663 

Proceeds from 

M.B 248.. 645.. 268.. .. 135.. 134.. 155. . [-472]. . 464 

Total 1,795.. 6,157.. 5,133.. 4,382.. 3,794.. 1,661.. 3,351.. 2,116. .4,976 

Per cent, profit 

oninvestment 9.7.. 27.2.. 16.7.. 26.3" 21.6.. 9.6.. 19.1.. 17. .26(?) 

2' Cf. Appendix H.. p. 318. L. L., St. Th. 

^* The figures given for 1703 cover the period from June 9, 1702, to Decem- 
ber. 31, 1703. All money values are given in rdl. 

^' This includes only the sound or "capable" slaves. 

^^ The high values for 1693 apparently have some connection with Thor- 
mohlen's contract which was discontinued in 1694. 

'' This percentage covers Ij^ years (August 8, 1698, to February 8, 1700). 



ST. THOMAS AND ST. JOHN AS PLANTATION COLONIES 13S 

It would add to the value of the above figures if it could be 
determined exactly on what basis the profits were calculated, 
— whether, for example, the sugar and cotton are credited to 
the plantations at the same rates as those paid to the private 
planters. Likewise, the exact amount of sugar, cotton, etc., 
produced on each plantation would be useful in the study of 
plantation economy, but unfortunately the accounts were not 
kept separately, and it is practically impossible to extract the 
individual items in a way that will give a dependable result. 
A few of the available figures will give an idea of the productive- 
ness of the Company's plantations. John Lorentz, in writing 
to the directors in April, 1702, informed them that sixty-seven 
hhd. of sugar had been cooked on the Sugar Plantation and 
that as much more was expected; that the New Quarter 
Plantation, despite the recent drought and the attack of worms 
upon the cane,^^ had yielded during the past year and the cur- 
rent one one hundred and seventy casks (T'onder). Governor 
Gardelin, in reporting the state of the Company's plantations 
to the directors in June, 1733, which was like 1701 a dry year, 
stated that the Company's sugar plantation had thus far yielded 
eighty-eight hhd. of sugar, and 433 rdl. worth of cotton; the 
New Quarter Plantation, one hundred and three hhd. of sugar; 
and the Company's plantation on St. John,^^ sixty -two hhd. in 
place of the expected one hundred and fifty hhd. The severe 
drought had crushed the hopes for a good crop, and the governor 
proposed the sale of the last-named property, " since it is worth 
nothing, but does more damage to the Company [than 
good]." 34 

The sugar, cotton, etc., raised on St. Thomas and on St. John 
after its occupation, were usually bought in whole or in part by 
the Company's St. Thomas factor at a price fixed by the gover- 
nor and council alone, or by agreement with the planters. They 

^2 Lorentz to Directors (April 24, 1702), C. B., 1690-17 IS. The effect of these 
calamities is seen in the percentage of profits that the plantation yielded, as 
shown in the table above. 

^^ See above, p. 130 (n. 25). 

^^ Gardelin and Council to Directors (June 18, 1733), B. & D., 17S2- 



134 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

were stored in the Company's warehouses until one of its ships 
arrived from Copenhagen or the Guinea coast. If the directors 
were not certain of a cargo they would leave it to the Guinea 
slave-ship captain to take whatever cargo was on hand back 
with him to Denmark. As long as the company had only St. 
Thomas and St. John, it was rarely necessary to employ more 
than two ships a year to empty the St. Thomas magazine, and 
frequently a single vessel was ample. The difficulties that the 
local factor often met when he tried to force the planters to 
sell their produce to the Company at a fixed price, will be dealt 
with in a later chapter. Europe-bound ships usually took dye 
woods (pockwood, fustic, Campeachy wood, etc.) on board for 
ballast. Sometimes a schooner was sent over to Porto Rico for 
hides or tobacco if interloping trade at St. Thomas had been 
dull. 

A few illustrations will serve to show the character of the 
trade, and give some indication as to its extent. The Frederick 
the Fourth, under Captain Peter Andersen Wseroe, left St. 
Thomas on April 6, 1706, with the following cargo, secured at 
the prices indicated,^^ quoted in rixdoUars, "Mark" and "Skill- 
ing." 







Rdl. 


M. 


Sk. 


9,112 lbs 


. Campeachy wood at 2 rdl. per 100 


182 


1 


6 


7,507 " 


stock fish (dried cod) at 2 rdl. per 100 


150 


- 


12 


4,484 " 


fustic 


67 


3 


— 


33.867 " 


Brazil wood 


529 


3 


— 


360,005 " 


[brown] sugar at SJ^ rdl. per 100 


12,600 


1 


— 


11,672 " 


white sugar at [price not given] 


620 


1 


— 


29,137 " 


cotton at 12 sk. per lb. 


3,642 


- 


12 


6,739 " 


cacao 


914 


2 


— 


1,242 " 


tobacco 


44 


5 


10 


129 " 


indigo at 1 rdl. per lb. 


129 


- 


— 


89 " 


caret (sea turtle) 


69 


3 


It 




staves for barrels and casks 


180 


2 


4 




nails 


32 


- 


— 




provisions beyond those needed 


167 


3 


— 



19,329 Rdl.iM.— 

In the following year, Peter Smith, the wealthy Dutch mer- 
»5 N. J. for St. Th., 1705-08 (April 6, 1706). 



ST. THOMAS AND ST. JOHN AS PLANTATION COLONIES 135 



chant, paid the required duty ^^ on the following goods which 
he sent to New York on an English bark : ^^ 

12 hhd. (2,674 lbs.) white sugar =» 10 sacks (1,012 lbs.) cacao 

12 hhd. (5,500 " ) brown sugar 4 bales (1,000 " ) cotton 

27 bales (5,838 " ) cotton 4 sacks ( 340 " ) cacao. 

It will be noticed that sugar and cotton were by far the most 
valuable items in the Copenhagen as well as in the New York 
cargo. Whether a ship was able to secure a good cargo or not 
depended on the funds that the St. Thomas factor had at his 
command, and upon the prices he was willing to pay. The 
amount of the funds depended in turn upon the sale of the 
Company's cargoes. The one sort of cargo the arrival of which 
was most frequently hailed with joy, not only by the St. Thomas 
planters, but by their various neighbors, was "black ivory," 
— ^African slaves. When times were good, slaves meant cash 
in the St. Thomas treasury, cash meant good cargoes for the 
return voyage, and bulging ships meant good dividends for 
the European stockholders. 

The distribution of these cargoes after their arrival in Copen- 
hagen remains to be considered. First, as much as possible 
of the cargo was sold at auction. The sugar refiners came to 
buy the brown sugar, the cloth manufacturers bid for the cotton, 
the dyers for the dyewoods and so on. The dyewoods had to 
be ground or pulverized by hand before they could be used, 
and as the work was exceedingly injurious to the health, the 
state kept up an institution called " Rasphuset " where it set 
those criminals to work whose long continued existence was least 
desirable.^^ Export trade was especially to be encouraged, as 
it brought ready money into the country. The duty on exports 
to foreign places was only one per cent., while on goods shipped 
from Copenhagen to places within the kingdom of Denmark- 
Norway, a duty of two and one-half per cent, had to be paid. 

^° Six per cent, on some goods and four per cent, on others, 

" N. J. for St. Th.. 1705-08 (October 18, 1707). 

^8 The white sugar in these and the preceding cargoes probably came from 
the French islands, where there were refineries. 

'3 Mention of "Rasphuset" is made in O. Nielsen, Kjobenhavn paa Holbergs 
Tid, p. 360. 



1S6 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

The foreign ports to which the West Indian cargoes were re- 
shipped were mainly in the Baltic region, and included Liibeck, 
Danzig, Stettin, Konigsberg, on the South Baltic, Stockholm 
and Gotenborg in Sweden, and (beginning with 1750) St. Peters- 
burg in Russia, and Amsterdam in Holland. Among local towns 
to which West Indian products were distributed were Kiel, 
Flensborg, and Aabenraa in the duchies; Elsinore, Nyborg, 
Slagelse, Odense, and Aalborg in Denmark proper; and Bergen, 
Christiania, Trondhjem and Fredrikshald in Norway.'"' 

According to the list of shipments from Copenhagen to 
foreign and domestic points which is contained in the Company's 
" Udskibnings og Passeer Sedlers Copie-Bog, 1709-17 5Jf" no 
sugar and little cotton were shipped out of Copenhagen from 
1712 to 1720, inclusive. From 1721 to 1733, when St. Croix 
was purchased, the shipments to foreign ports were more than 
twenty times those to domestic ports. During the period from 
1729 to 1749, sugar was exported but a single year *^ to a foreign 
port. It was in September, 1729, that the Company began re- 
fining its own sugar,^^ and this fact, combined with the king's 
edict of July 4, 1733, requiring privately owned refineries to use 
only the sugar that came from the West Indian colonies as long 
as the supply held out, will explain the falling off in exports. 
The purchase by the Company in 1737 of the two principal 
refineries, those owned by the Pelt and Weyse families, gave the 
Company a monopoly of the refining business,^^ and made it 
possible for it to absorb most of its own sugar. ''^ 

*" Udskibnings og Passeer Sedlers-Copie-Bog, 1709-1754, passim. 

^^ In 1741, 11,443 lbs. of sugar were sent to Stockholm. Ibid. 

42 Manager MS., 130. The Company had been granted the privilege of put- 
ting up a refinery, by the king on April 17, 1721. Vest. Reg., 1699-1746. 

*^ Mariager MS., 149. 

44 See table showing exports to domestic and foreign places in Appendix L, 
pp. 328-331. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE SLAVE TRADE IN THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

The rise of a class of capitalist planters in the Danish as well 
as in the other West India islands, was made possible through 
the labors of the African slave. Indentured white servants 
too frequently succumbed to the climate or proved quite in- 
tractable as laborers; while the attempt to use deported crim- 
inals from the home country proved generally abortive, in the 
West Indies as elsewhere. The sudden change in habits and 
environment practically prohibited strenuous effort on the part 
of the whites whose lot was cast in tropical America. If the 
agricultural resources of those regions were to be appreciably 
developed, it must come about through the white man's efforts 
to earn his bread by the sweat of the negro's brow. It was 
"the blacks bought by way of trade" who by reason of their 
ready adaptability to field labor early became "the most useful 
appurtenances of a plantation, and perpetual servants." ^ 

This trade, so loathsome to the modern mind, had been be- 
gun by the Portuguese before the discovery of America. But 
the few hundred negroes that they had bought from the Moors 
had been brought into Europe itself." After the occupation of 
America had begun, Portuguese traders not only supplied 
their own colony of Brazil but made contracts or "asientos" 
to supply the Spanish colonies with slaves. Interloping expe- 
ditions from the Guinea coast of Africa to the West Indies like 
those of Sir John Hawkins are conspicuous in the sixteenth cen- 
tury because they were rare. During the period of union be- 
tween Spain and Portugal (1580-1640) the Dutch wrested from 
the Portuguese their monopoly of the Guinea trade, and jeal- 
ously guarded the trade thus won against encroachments by 
other nations. The rise of the English plantation colonies, 

1 Cal. Col., 1661-68, No. 791 (1664?). 

2 Lucas, III, 77, 78. 

[137] 



138 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

particularly Barbados, in the first haK of the seventeenth cen- 
tury, and Jamaica in the second half, led the EngUsh to begin 
exporting slaves to their own American possessions. It is worth 
noticing that the English slave trade began in earnest about 
1640, just when a Dutchman is said to have introduced the art 
of sugar making to the English colony of Barbados.^ The es- 
tablishment in 1672 of the Royal African Company of England 
has been previously noted. This company was enjoying its 
greatest prosperity during those years when the Danish West 
India and Guinea Company was attempting in the face of tre- 
mendous obstacles to secure a permanent foothold for its col- 
ony at St. Thomas.* 

A trade that had had the sanctity of century-long custom was 
little disturbed by the conscientious scruples of reformers. 
There was no one to plead the rights of the negro as Las Casas 
had championed those of the Indian. The few timid voices 
that had dared to raise themselves on the negroes' behalf be- 
fore 1700 were scarcely heard in the din of the struggles for 
commercial supremacy and exploitation.^ Once the sugar 
planting had been well begun, the demand for suitable labor 
would become insistent. To the seventeenth-century planter 
there was but one course to pursue. Over on the Guinea coast, 
in a latitude but slightly lower, was an unlimited supply of la- 
borers, many of them already accustomed to servitude, who 
readily adapted themselves to the conditions of plantation life. 
The problem of the day, so far as the planters and the adminis- 
trators interested in plantations were concerned, was simply 
one of method, — how best to bring these laborers where they 
were needed. The attempt of individuals to solve this problem 
led to interloping, an art in which the Dutch were preeminent; 
while the attempt of merchant-statesmen led to the formation 
of companies under state or royal patronage. 

' Lucas, III, 80, 81. 

* The average annual dividend declared between 1676 and 1688 amounted 
roughly to eight per cent, annually, reaching as high as twenty-two per cent, 
during the first two years. See Beer, The Old Colonial System, 1660-1688, 
I, 343. 

^ Beer (I, 322) cites an anonymous pamphlet published in 1684 and a protest 
against the slave trade by the Pennsylvania Quakers in 1688. 



^ O M 





THE SLAVE TRADE IN THE DANISH WEST INDIES 139 

The early efforts of Denmark to establish factories on the 
Gold Coast have already been referred to. The conditions un- 
der which the trade was carried on need to be considered some- 
what in detail. A popular misconception with regard to the 
slave trade is that white men filled their ships with kidnapped 
slaves. If such had been the rule it would have been a practical 
impossibility to have brought the enormous numbers that in 
the course of time were exported to the New World. In the 
years from 1680 to 1786, for example, one writer estimates that 
2,130,000 slaves were imported into the British West India 
islands alone.® Though cases of kidnapping doubtless occurred 
now and then, the simpler and safer plan, and the one usually 
followed, was for the European state to negotiate a treaty with 
a local chief or "king" through its representative who was 
frequently the captain of the ship. The arrangement usually 
provided for the lease or cession of a bit of coast territory, 
preferably near a river that furnished good anchorage and 
communication with the "hinterland." Here was built a 
"castle" or fort with negro huts and an enclosure for the slaves 
bought. The governor or factor acted merely as the middle- 
man, buying the slaves from the chief with whom he had con- 
tracted. The chief made his captures from among the tribes 
with which he was at war or on unfriendly terms. If hard 
pressed himself, he could receive protection at the fort. Cap- 
tured negroes from inland could be floated down the river to the 
fort, where the factor bought those that were fit and kept them 
under guard until the Company's ship came along from Europe 
with its cargo, or if there was no prospect of that, until Dutch, 
English or other interlopers came and offered a reasonable 
price. The cost price at the Guinea factory varied according 
to conditions along the coast. When the demand was strong 
in the West Indies, ships of interlopers and companies swarmed 
along the coast of Africa from Senegal to Angola, and the price 
rose accordingly.^ 

^ Bryan Edyfards, History ...ofthe... West Indies (2 v., London, 1794:), 
II, 55; Humboldt, Travels, VII, 147. 

^ In a letter to the directors dated March 28, 1737, the St. Thomas officials 
suggest that slaves be secured from the region between Caplahoe and Cape 



140 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

A single illustration will serve to indicate the nature of the 
slave market at the Guinea factory from the solely commercial 
point of view. To those who were in the trade, it was purely a 
business matter. The Hoye Galley under Captain Lawrence 
Span arrived at Christiansborg castle on December 15, 1726, 
with a cargo, not counting the brandy, of 16,135 rdl. A fort- 
night later when the New Year's stocktaking took place, the 
Company was credited on its Guinea books with fiftj^ men slaves 
valued at 84 rdl., twenty-five women at 48 rdl., three boys at 50 
rdl., and four girls at 36 rdl. each. This appears to have been 
the Company's wholesale purchase price. The actual cargo 
taken on board on March 6 included 238 souls, indicating a 
brisk business in the opening months of the year. The invoice 
of the departing ship shows the following cargo and values: 
one hundred and forty-seven men at 88, seventy women at 56, 
eleven boys at 56, and ten girls at 40 rdl., making a total value 
of 17,872 rdl.^ If the discrepancy in the prices of adult male 
and female slaves as shown in the above invoice was general, 
it might appear that the mortality among the women in the 
cargo was higher than among the men, for in the St. Thomas 
market women sold for nearly or just as high a price as the men, 
but there is no direct evidence to show that such was the case. 

The horrors of the "middle passage" have been frequently 
painted in most lurid colors. Indeed, at its worst it would be 
difficult to exaggerate the picture of misery presented by a re- 
turning slaver. Naturally, it was to the captain's as well as 
the Company's interest to bring as large a part of his cargo 
safely to the other side as possible. But where the captain's 
reward depended on the number brought over, or where the 
officers could bring over slaves on their own account, the temp- 
tation to overcrowd the vessel was very great. In case of 
stormy weather, when the hatches had to be closed down, the 
air in the crowded hold became so stifling as to suflFocate many. 
Good water was often difficult to obtain, and bad water, as well 

Three Points, and between Ziode Wolta (river Volta?) and Hardra, as these 
were usually better than the Loanga or Angola slaves. Martfeldt MSS., VI; 
Secret-Raadets Breve, 17S3-S9. 
8 A^. J. Sot Ouinea; N. J. for St. Th. (1727). See Appendix J., pp. 320-326. 



THE SLAVE TRADE IN THE DANISH WEST INDIES 141 

as unwholesome food, brought on violent forms of dysentery 
and other internal diseases, with which the physicians who ac- 
companied the ships found themselves unable to cope. Some- 
times the negroes would become unruly, and if successfully 
subdued would have to be loaded down with chains. An anony- 
mous author, writing in 1684, gives a graphic and characteris- 
tic description. 

"For no sooner are they [the blacks] arrived at the Sea-side, 
but they are sold Hke Beasts to the Merchant, who glad of the 
booty puts us aboard the Ships, claps us under Deck, and binds 
us in Chains and Fetters, and thrusts us into the dark noisom 
Hold, so many and so close together, that we hardly breathe, 
there are we in the hottest of Summer, and under that scorch- 
ing Climate without any of the sweet influences of the Air, or 
briezing Gale to refresh us, sufifocated, stewed, and parboyled 
altogether in a Crowd, till we almost rot each other and our- 
selves." ^ 

P. F. Isert, himself a physician on a Danish slave-ship, 
writing in 1788, when the agitation against the slave trade was 
at its height, tells of the indignities to which the negro women 
were subjected at the hands of the ship's officers, and of the ar- 
tifices used by the factors to sell miserable wretches who were 
nigh unto death before the buyers could learn the serious na- 
ture of their ailments. 

Before the negroes were bought on the Guinea coast they had 
to undergo a careful inspection and sorting under the super- 
vision of the Company's surgeon who accompanied them on the 
voyage to the West Indies. The usual mode of calculation on 
the Guinea coast in the seventeenth century was to rate the 
full-grown negro man or woman as the unit, or "Pies de Indies," 
the others being classified as "| boys," "| girls," "\ boys," 
and so on. The fraction indicated what part of the price of a 
full-grown slave the younger ones should sell for. It must not 
be supposed that the authorities who permitted this trade were 
entirely unmindful of the fact that the negroes had souls that 
might be worth saving. In their contract with Arff, by which 

' Philolethus Physiologus, Friendly Advice to the Gentlemen Planters in the 
East and West Indies (1684), Part II, pp. 82, 83 (quoted in Beer, op. cU., I, 345). 



142 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

he took over the Guinea trade in 1689, the directors required 
the lessee to keep a minister on board the slave ships and at the 
Guinea factory. ^° It is nevertheless to be feared that the zeal 
of the trader met with greater rewards from the authorities 
than that of the priest. 

There is good reason to suppose that the extent of the slave 
trade must have standardized its processes, so that there was 
little difference in the treatment of negroes along the various 
parts of the Guinea coast. The Dutch probably got their car- 
goes across the ocean with the least loss of life. The Branden- 
burg officials at the Gross-Friedrichsberg factory were largely 
Dutch, and what happened there may be considered typical for 
the coast. A surgeon of the African Company gives in his 
journal a vivid description of what he saw up to the time that 
the slave-ship was ready to sail. The surgeon, who began his 
service there in December, 1692, wrote as follows: ^^ 

"As soon as a sufficient number of these unhappy victims 
were collected, they were examined by me, the healthy and 
strong ones were bought, while those who lacked as much as a 
finger or a nail or were in any way defective — called Magrones ^^ 
— ^were returned. 

"The slaves that were taken were made to kneel, twenty or 
thirty at a time; the right shoulder was greased with palm-oil, 
and it was branded in the middle with an iron that bore the 
initials C. — ^AB — C. (churfurstlich afrikanisch-brandenburgische 
Compagnie); then they were strictly guarded in the lodgings 
provided for them. Where a band of fifty or sixty slaves had 
been secured, they were coupled together in twos or threes 
and driven to the coast under escort. It was my duty to watch 
over the transport, for which purpose I was carried in the rear 
in a hammock, so that I could see the entire column. Once the 
coast was reached, a prearranged signal brought the ship's boats 
ashore to bring their black cargo on board. Some of these un- 
fortunates followed their leaders weakly and unresistingly, even 

10 Vest. Reg., 1671-99, fol. 166, 1116 (July 27, 1689). 

^^ Surgeon Johann Peter Oettinger's Journal (quoted in Schiick, I, 331 et seq.). 
'^ Probably a corruption of " manquerons," a term applied in the West Indies 
to negroes who were below standard. 



THE SLAVE TRADE IN THE DANISH WEST INDIES 143 

when they were forced to hasten by the lash of a whip; others, 
however, howled and danced; and there were still others, es- 
pecially women, who so filled the air with their heartrending 
shrieks, that drums and other noisy instruments were scarcely 
able to drown out the sound, and it often cut me to the quick. 
Yet it did not lie in my power to alter the fate of these unhappy 
beings. . . . 

"On April 4 the ship was finally filled with seven hundred 
and thirty-eight slaves of both sexes, so that we were able to 
take leave of the king {i. e., the chief) and return to the ship. 
After being carried in palanquins (Sanften) to the beach, we 
treated our carriers and attendants with brandy and then 
chmbed into the boats. In the evening we arrived on board the 
ship, wet, sunburned and stung by mosquitoes and other pests, 
and we thanked God that we had at last emerged safely out of 
this heathenish land. Yet what a horror overcame me, when I 
visited the decks in which the unhappy victims were confined, 
and breathed the frightful atmosphere in which they were com- 
pelled to live. Chained together by the feet in pairs they lay 
or sat in rows next to each other, and my heart well nigh stood 
still at the thought that I must see such beings, to all appear- 
ances like men, treated like chattels." 

No doubt the slaves on board ship were as well cared for 
as the crowded conditions permitted, for captain and owners 
were interested in bringing as large cargoes as possible safely 
across the ocean. When the weather was favorable they were 
brought on deck a few at a time to limber up their stiffened 
muscles by dancing and exercise. The women were frequently 
placed, unchained, in a room by themselves. ^^ The monotony 
of the daily fare of pork, beans, and barley gruel was relieved 
by weekly allowances of millet, and by brandy and tobacco on 
alternate days. Palm-oil was used to flavor the gruel. ^^ The 
success of a voyage was largely dependent upon the kind of 

^' P. F. Isert {Reise nach Guinea, pp. 305 et seq.), gives an interesting account 
of his experiences on the Guinea coast and on a slave-ship. 

" Directors' order, (August 8, 1725), Amer. & Afr. C. B.. 1716-26. The 
weekly allowance for each slave consisted of | lb. pork, 2 qts. beans, 2 qts. 
barley, -| qt. millet, ^ pint brandy, 2 oz. tobacco, 1 pipe, j pint palm oil. 



144 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

negroes secured. Certain parts of the coast had a bad reputa- 
tion as sources of slave supply, for their negroes were liable to 
grow violently mutinous when threatened with bondage. Such, 
for example, were the El Mina negroes from the Dutch part of 
the coast. 

The percentage of loss on the Guinea- West Indian slave- 
ships varied from ten to about fifty-five per cent, of those taken 
on, so far as the limited number of available statistics shows. ^^ 
The scenes that ensued when the prospective buyers boarded 
an incoming slave-ship were frequently well-nigh riotous and 
frightened the poor blacks, who had little or no idea of what 
awaited them, almost to death. The white men would make 
a wild dash for the negroes that they intended to buy, and sep- 
arate them from the main group by way of securing first right 
to purchase. Sometimes the cargo would be taken on shore, 
kept under guard, and sold in small lots until entirely disposed 
of. 

The eagerness with which the directors of the Company took 
up the slave trade as a means of increasing the shareholders' 
profits, and the tenacity with which they clung to their monop- 
oly of the trade once they had begun it, emphasize the impor- 
tance ascribed to this traffic by the moneyed interests of the 
seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. It was not until 
the governorship of John Lorentz, when St. Thomas begins to 
be administered as a normal, well-ordered colony, that the 
directors were able to carry out any plan for direct participation 
in the slave trade with ships owned by the Company; and it was 
not until 1733, after the Company had suffered a number of 
severe losses at sea, and about the time it began negotiations 
for the purchase of St. Croix from France, that it was ready to 
let the slave trade fall back into private hands. This experience 
of over a third of a century, during which the Danish West 
India and Guinea Company attempted to supply slaves to its 
own colony, and also to make St. Thomas a depot for the supply 
of slaves to the neighboring lands, needs to be explained in some 
detail. 

'^ These percentages are drawn from the figures of ships sailing in 1698, 1699, 
1700, 1707, 1714, and 1733. 



THE SLAVE TRADE IN THE DANISH WEST INDIES 145 

It was the profits made by the Brandenburg African Company 
in some of its early Guinea voyages that brought home to the 
observant governor Lorentz the possibiHties of the slave trade 
as a source of revenue for the Danish company. Two Branden- 
burg slave-ships^® that arrived in St. Thomas in November, 1696, 
before the peace at Ryswick had been concluded, and hence 
while Louis XIV was still at war against the league of opposing 
states, brought to St. Thomas more than one thousand one 
hundred pieces of human freight. One of the Brandenburg 
captains whose cargo contained four hundred and eighty slaves 
remarked to the governor that if he had had more room on 
board he could have made as fine a bargain in slaves as he could 
ever desire. ^^ The other captain confided to the governor the 
opinion that the Danish forts on the Guinea coast afforded 
excellent prospects for the slave trade. These successful ven- 
tures and the information he received from the captains led 
the Danish governor to express to the directors the hope that 
the Company would take up the Guinea trade, "since all other 
trade is as nothing compared with this slave trade." If the 
directors would only make a beginning with a few hundred 
Guinea slaves, urged Lorentz, they would not find it a bad ven- 
ture, but "the first experience would give them such joy, that 
the slave trade would hold its place before all other sorts of 
commerce, and the Company would feel itself impelled to con- 
tinue it." ^^ The governor's enthusiasm was not lost on the di- 
rectors, who had great faith in their representative at St. Thomas 
and were especially anxious to get the Company to the point 
where it could pay dividends and thus regain the confidence of 
the investing public. 

Nicholas Arff, the Guinea lessee, had, as we have seen, per- 

^® Frederick III under Capt. Jacob Lambrecht with six hundred and thirty, 
and the Electoral Princess under Capt. Wouter Ypes with four hundred and 
eighty slaves. 

" Lorentz to Directors (November 30, 1696), C. B., 1690-1713. 

1^ Ibid. The French were also becoming increasingly active in the Guinea 
trade during the interval preceding the outbreak of the War of the Spanish 
Succession. On July 9, 1701, Louis XIV issued an arret granting to a new 
Guinea company certain rights that had been held by a former one. Scelle, 
La traite negriere, II, 687. 



146 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

mitted his lease to expire because of serious and unforeseen 
losses brought about by the European war. Just at the time 
that the Ryswick negotiations were being concluded, the Danish 
West India and Guinea Company was being reorganized under 
a new charter which bore the date of September 28, 1697. New 
conditions demanded a corresponding readjustment. Baron 
Jens Juel and Mathias Moth, who had so faithfully backed the 
governor in his endeavor to stifle the Brandenburg African 
Company's activities at St. Thomas, were retained as directors. ^^ 
The Company's total capital, including a ten per cent, assess- 
ment made in 1695 in order to secure capital to send a ship to 
St. Thomas for a cargo,^° was just 84,883 rdl., 2 marks. On this 
investment the shareholders had received no other returns than 
the three or four per cent, yielded by the Thormohlen lease. 
It was not until late in 1697 or early in 1698 that the directors 
decided to send a ship and cargo to Guinea and the West Indies. 
Finding themselves unable to secure a large enough sum from 
the stockholders, the directors turned to a wealthy merchant, 
one Jacob Lerke, who contributed half of the funds necessary 
for the new venture. The result was the voyage of the Copen- 
hagen Bourse to the Guinea coast under joint auspices. But 
this initial venture fell below expectations, for out of the five 
hundred and six slaves taken on at Christiansborg and along the 
Guinea coast, only two hundred and fifty-nine were delivered at 
St. Thomas in September, 1698, and thirty-seven of these died 
shortly after landing. A mutiny had broken out on board, in the 
course of which many had been killed or had jumped overboard. 
To cap this misfortune scurvy had helped to reduce the numbers 
to scarcely more than half of the original cargo. ^^ The surviving 
slaves were sold at 85 rdL each, which appears to have been three 
times their cost price in Guinea.-" The excellent state of the 
West Indian market as compared with the low prices prevailing 

" Manager MS., 103. 

^° The Company had resumed its administration after the Thormohien fiasco 
late in 1694, On March 7, 1702, Matthias Moth made a clear and fairly detailed 
resume of the Company's activities in Guinea and the West Indies since 1695. 
See Comp. Prot., 1697-1734. 

21 Lorentz to Directors (October 12, 1698), Gov. C. B.. 169^.-1700. 

" See Appendix J, pp. 320-326. 



THE SLAVE TRADE IN THE DANISH WEST INDIES 147 

on the Guinea coast made the disappointment of the owners all 
the keener. ^^ 

Before the news of this partial failure reached them, the 
directors had arranged for the purchase in Holland of another 
vessel, for which a cargo valued at 30,000 rdl. was planned. 
Ten thousand rixdoUars were to be invested in slaves, the re- 
mainder in other Guinea products, presumably ivory, gold, 
palm oil, and the like.^^ The new ship, called Christian V, had 
to be fitted out by the wealthier shareholders on their personal 
credit, for the others were in no mood for paying further assess- 
ments. This second ship left for Guinea in August, 1698. It 
fared rather better than the first, for Captain Grabner succeeded 
in July, 1699, in bringing into St. Thomas harbor three hundred 
and fifty-three slaves, almost two-thirds of the number taken 
on in Africa.^"" About this time the Company managed to take 
over Lerke's share in the Copenhagen Bourse, paying 7,800 rdl. 
forit.26 

The Danes were not alone in this attempt to supply a market 
that had been starved during a general European war. The 
Dutch at Curasao immediately prepared to resume the business 
with the Spanish Main which had been seriously interrupted 
by the war. Peace had scarcely been proclaimed before the 
Dutch magazines there were filled with Spanish-American goods 
that had been paid for largely in African slaves. The English 
parliament passed a bill modifying the monopoly of the slave 
trade in favor of private traders for not less than thirteen years 
beginning with June 24, 1698.^^ 

^^ In the investigation instituted by the St. Thomas governor and his council, 
the captain, Innes Petersen, seems to have been absolved from responsibility. 
The same captain lost in his next voyage three hundred of a total of five hundred 
and thirty-eight slaves. Landsprot. for St. Th., 169^-1711 (October 6, 1698). 
See Appendix J. 

2* Comp. ProL, 1697-1784 (April 29, 1698). 

2^ See Appendix J. 

2" Comp. Prof., 1697-1734 (June 9, 1699). 

2' The Royal African Company was merely to keep up the forts and castles 
and was to receive a ten per cent, duty on all goods imported to Guinea and five 
and ten per cent, on certain goods exported. Gold, silver, and negroes went out 
duty-free. But the market was so large and the possibilities for profitable 
agriculture so vast that the demand was not easily satisfied. After the suppres- 



148 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

When the report spread through the islands that the Danish 
governor was expecting a slave-ship to arrive, a Jamaica trader 
sent word to St. Thomas that he would like to invest 30,000 
rdl. in slaves if the governor would guarantee their delivery at 
a certain time.^ This the latter was unable to do, so that when 
the expected slave cargo did arrive he had to employ a local 
merchant to take the surplus slaves to Hispaniola and the sur- 
rounding islands.^ 

A very considerable share of the negroes sold at St. Thomas 
were brought in by interlopers.^'' Unless its treasury happened 
to be empty, the Company rarely permitted planters to buy 
directly from the slave captain, and never allowed slaves to 
be landed without charging an import duty, — usually four per 
cent. This duty or "recognition" was as a rule paid i7i natura, 
which in a cargo of men, women, and children of assorted sizes 
often required some ingenious calculations. The selling price 
varied from twenty-five to one hundred per cent, above the 
cost or wholesale price, according to market conditions. In one 
of the agreements with the Brandenburgers it was stipulated 
that either party might share with the other in the purchase 
of interlopers' cargoes. After the coronation of Frederick I 
as king in Prussia in 1701 the Brandenburg African Company 
was left to its own fate, and practically its sole activity until 
its discontinuance in the reign of Frederick William I consisted 
of such occasional purchases as those referred to, and of pro- 
testing if its rights appeared to have been transgressed or 
ignored. 

The distribution of slaves to other islands was usually done 
by traders from those islands. The keen trader, hearing of the 
approaching arrival of a cargo from Guinea would hasten to 
St. Thomas, if business conditions would warrant it, and wait 
there for weeks in order to get the first chance at buying a 
sion of the buccaneers, Jamaica in particular progressed rapidly in its plantation 
life. Lorentz to Directors (January 22, 1698), C. B. 169^-1700; W. R. Scott, 
Joint-Stock Com-panies to 1720 (3 v., Cambridge, 1910-1912), II, 23. 

=8 Lorentz to Directors (January 22, 1698), C. B., 16H-1700. 

-" In this way Peter Smith took a batch of forty-four negroes off on his bark, on 
condition of receiving half the profits. 

^^ Appendix J. 



THE SLAVE TRADE IN THE DANISH WEST INDIES 149 

slave cargo. The local St. Thomas traders frequently bought 
considerable numbers of negroes for customers in other islands. 
Some good-sized fortunes were built up at St. Thomas during 
the War of the Spanish Succession in just this way. 

The following summary taken from the Company's journals 
kept at the St. Thomas factory indicates how the Company 
disposed of one entire cargo. On July 8, 1710, a Zeeland inter- 
loper. Captain David Diniesen, sold the following slaves to the 
Danish company: 



134 men 


= ISi^Pies^de Indies 


26 women 


= 26 


11 "2/3 boys" 


= 71/3 


20 "1/2 boys" 


= 10 


2 "2/3 girls" 


= 11/3 


5 "1/2 girls" 


= 21/2 


2 "1/3 boys" 


2/3 



200 head = 181 5/6 Pies de Indies 

at 65 rdl. = 11,819 rdl.. 1 mark. 



Date 
July 10 



Number 
2 "1/2 boys" 
1 "1/2 boy" 
1 "1/2 girl" 
1 " 1/2 boy" 
1 "1/2 boy" 
1 "1/2 boy" 
1 "1/2 boy" 
8 "1/2 boys" 
1 "1/2 boy" 
1 "1/2 boy" 
1 "1/2 girl" 
2 "2/3 boys" 
1 "2/3 boy" 

1 "2/3 girl" 

2 "1/2 boys" 
1 "1/2 girl" 
4 "2/3 boys" 
1 "1/2 boy" 
1 "1/2 boy" 
4 men 

1 woman 
4 men 



RECEIPTS (in the order of purchase) 

Rdl. Rdl. 
Price each Total 



50 



60 



90 



60 



100 
100 



100 

50 

50 

60 

65 

60 

60 

480 

40 

60 

60 

180 

100 

90 

120 

60 

300 

00 

60 

400 

100 

400 







Rdl. 


Rdl. 


Date 


Number 


Price each 


Total 


July 12 


3 men 


100 


300 




2 "2/3 boys' 


85 


170 




9 men 


100 


900 




1 man 




100 




1" 1/2 girl" 




55 




1 "2/3 girl" 




85 




3 men 


100 


300 




2 women 


100 


200 




24 men 


100 


2400 




3 women 


100 


300 




1 "1/3 boy" 




33 1/3 




1 "1/2 boy" 




45 




5 men 


100 


500 


July 14 


1 man 




100 


July 26 


8 men 


100 


800 




2 women 


100 


200 




37 men 


100 


3700 




4 women 


100 


400 


Aug. 14 


20 men 


100 


2000 




9 men 


100 


900 




8 women 


100 


800 


Sept. 19 


1 "2/3 boy" 




80 




Totals 


. 187 head 


14,443 1/2 rdl. 



Expenditures: 

Provisions from July 10 to August 31 ... . 140 rdl., 1 mark. 
Losses: 

From July 10 to November 8, 7 negro men died and were debited on the books at 65 rdl. 
each. 

Suviming up: 

No. of negroes sold by September 19 ... . 187 

" " " dying before sale 7 

" " " unaccounted for 6 

Total bought 200 



150 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

Total receipts from negro sales 14,443 1/3 rdl. 

Total cost of negroes 11,959 1/6 

Purchase price 11,819 

Food 140 1/6 

11,959 1/6 



Net profit 2,484 1/6 rdl. 

2,48476 "^ 11,95976 = 20Vio> the percentage of net profit on 
the cargo, according to the books, exclusive of current ex- 
penses. 

It will be noticed that the cargo was sold mainly in small 
lots, that the Pies de Indies had no definite relation to the price 
except in the case of the full-grown negroes, and that the cargo 
was practically disposed of within five weeks. The larger lots 
were sold mainly to government oflBcials who knew the intrica- 
cies of the business and were often able to take advantage of 
the situation to their own profit.^^ 

The prices of slaves, wholesale and retail, during the War of 
the Spanish Succession afford a good trade barometer for St. 
Thomas. Denmark was neutral, and in a better position than 
in the previous war to reap the advantages of neutrality. From 
45 and 80 rdl. in 1702, the wholesale and retail prices respectively 
rose by 1704 to 60 and 100 rdl. and three years later to 80 and 
100 rdl. The highest point seems to have been reached in 
1714, when slaves sold at St. Thomas for 120 rdl. each. This 
price is excelled in 1722 by a cargo that brought 125 rdl. per 
head. 

Business conditions at St. Thomas, which were evidently 
stimulated by Denmark-Norway's neutral position during the 
Spanish Succession War, suffered a slump after its close. Not 
until the end of the Northern War (the treaty of Nystadt was 
concluded between Sweden and Russia in 1721) when Sweden 
had been reduced to a second-rate power, do commercial condi- 
tions in the Danish islands, as evidenced by the state of the 
slave trade, begin to show improvement. During the years 
preceding the conclusion of peace with Denmark (1720) the St. 
Thomas government prepared itself more than once to resist 
a rumored Swedish attack.^- The depredations of pirates, re- 

" See below, p. 191. 

" Udtog af Secret-Raads Prot, 1710-20 (August 5, 1715; June 22, 1716). 
Martfeldt MSS.. Vol. VI. 



THE SLAVE TRADE IN THE DANISH WEST INDIES 151 

viving difficulties with the Spanish neighbors of St. Thomas, 
complications with the English in the Leeward Islands because 
of Danish occupation of St. John, and the peculations of its 
local officials, combined to make the position of the Danish 
company and its colonists extremely uncertain. Besides, this 
was a period of hard times when the St. Thomas government 
supplied the lack of coin by issues of paper money. In attempt- 
ing to account for the business depression the St. Thomas au- 
thorities were inclined to place the emphasis upon the ruin of the 
formerly lucrative trade with Spanish America.^^ The planters 
on the other hand were convinced that the Company's officials 
at St. Thomas and those directing the Company's policy were 
responsible for the changed conditions.^^ Certain it is that the 
loss of the principal foreign market and the disappearance of 
hard cash were bound to affect all forms of business and partic- 
ularly the slave trade, which was very difficult to carry on 
except on a cash basis, and which required considerable sums 
for its successful prosecution. To be forced to wait until crops 
matured and then to find themselves face to face with a variety 
of petty local restrictions, was the prospect that awaited the 
traders who attempted to carry on business at St. Thomas on 
a barter basis. 

The Danish West India and Guinea Company seems rarely if 
ever to have had more than two ships at a time on the Copen- 
hagen-Guinea-West India run. Dutch interlopers furnished 
far greater numbers of slaves for the St. Thomas market than the 
Danish Company.^^ In view of the expertness and daring of 
the ubiquitous Dutch trader it was not necessary to invest 
much of the Company's capital in slave-ships except when the 
Dutch slavers failed to appear. As a rule the St. Thomas au- 
thorities had only to await the arrival of a cargo which they 
could accept or refuse as they saw fit according to the condition 
of the slaves and the state of the market. 

During the years from 1697 to 1733, — that is, from the time 

" Governor and Council to Directors (August 10, 1714), B. & D., 17U-17. 
^* The commission sent over by St. Thomas planters in 1715 in order to bring 
about certain changes in policy is dealt with in Chapter IX. 
'5 See Appendix J. 



15^ THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

the Company began the Guinea- West India trade on its own 
account until the directors voted for its discontinuance, — the 
Company lost not fewer than eight ships. The greater number 
of these were employed in the Guinea as well as in the West 
India carrying trade. The total number owned by the Company 
at one time or another in this period amounted only to twenty. ^^ 
The following resume of the losses will show their approximate 
extent; 

The Guldenlew, intended for the Copenhagen-St. Thomas 
run, was lost at Lessoe, off the Norwegian coast, on Novem- 
ber 20, 1702. 

The Cronprincen (the Crown Prince) was lost at Isle de Prince 
in the Guinea gulf on May 31, 1706, through the explosion of its 
powder magazine while en route from Guinea to St. Thomas. 
Only five on board were saved of whom three eventually reached 
Denmark. 

The Christian V and Frederick IV left Guinea on May 29, 
1709, with a rich cargo of gold and slaves. Both of them missed 
St. Thomas and were wrecked in the Bay of Honduras on 
March 7, 1710. The Spaniards confiscated their cargoes and 
brought them to Porto Bello. 

The Chrisiiansfort, while on its way to Copenhagen from 
Bergen where it had been forced to winter, was lost with its 
West Indian cargo at Hoje Wserde March 2-3, 1713. 

The Jomfru Alette was captured on October 31, 1717, by a 
Swedish privateer, while on its way from Norway to Copenhagen 
with a West India cargo. 

The Salvator Mundi was wrecked, August 15, 1729, on 
Anegada reef near Virgin Gorda while en route from St. Thomas 
to Copenhagen with a return cargo. 

The Christianshorg was wrecked in the Cattegat on its return 
from St. Thomas on September 17, 1730. 

During the decade preceding the purchase of St. Croix (1733) 
the policy to be pursued with regard to the slave trade was an 
all absorbing question at the meetings of the stockholders. 
In their instructions of November 16, 1723, the directors had 
specifically sought to encourage private traders to sell their 
»« Vest. Reg., 1699-1746; Manager MS.. 110 et seq. 



THE SLAVE TRADE IN THE DANISH WEST INDIES 153 

slaves at the St. Thomas factory.^^ Four years later Frederick 
Holmsted who had been employed as bookkeeper in the Com- 
pany's Copenhagen office for about twenty years advised the 
directors against the Company's active participation in the 
slave trade, but his advice was not heeded. From 1728 to 1733, 
inclusive, the Company made^a vigorous attempt to revive its 
Guinea- West Indian commerce. At least three new ships were 
put into active commission, and about 200,000 rdl. according 
to Holmsted's account were sunk in the venture, but with no 
prospect of the Company's being able to pay interest on more 
than half of that sum. When the directors and chief stock- 
holders met in February, 1734, there ensued a heated debate 
as to whether or not the Company should continue the trade. 
In this discussion there seems to have been no mention of 
humanitarian or religious arguments, the sole question being 
one of dividends. The news of the arrival of the Laarburg 
Galley at St. Thomas with only two hundred forty-two of her 
original cargo of four hundred forty-three slaves ^ was used 
with telling effect by those who opposed the continued partici- 
pation of the Company in the slave trade. These opposition 
leaders included three directors ^^ and three "chief sharehold- 
ers" ^^ (Hovedparticipanter) . In the written argument drawn up 
by these men is included the following estimate of moneys ex- 
pended and received in connection with the Laarburg Galley, 
which statement they assert to be a "proper and true rela- 
tion" of how matters really stood. ^^ 

The ship Laarburg Oalley has cost 7,683 rdl. 4 sk. 

Repairs and equipment 12,881 " 3 m. 15 " 

Cargo . . . and insurance on slaves 31,066 " 5 " 13 " 

Interest on ship and equipment from date of sailing to 
return, and of cargo ... at only 6 per cent 3,922 " 3 " 



Total cost of expedition 55,554 rdl. 1 m. 

»7 Holmsted's "Deduction" (February 4, 1734), Co. Prob., 1697-173^. Cf. also 
Host 64 et seq, 

38 B. & D.. 1732-3k (May 8, 1733). 

'^ Blome, Holmsted, Klauman. 

*° C. A. von Plessen, Dose, Kreyer. 

" Deduction og Voto (February 26, 1734), Corny. Prot., 1697-173^. 



154 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

On the other hand, there should be deducted for deteriora- 
tion of ship 5,000 rdl. 

Profit on gold and other goods. . .3,157 rdl. 4 m. 10 sk. 

Freight which ship should earn 

from St. Thomas hither 4,110 "2" 6" 

7,268 " 1 m. 



12,268 rdl. 1 m. 
Delivered to Fort Christians- 

borg surplus of various goods 

from the ship, which with 

usual 10 per cent, advance for 

freight amounts to 14,281 rdl. 4 m. 14 sk. 

On the other hand, the ship has 

taken slaves, etc., at the fort 

for 3,976 " 



Leaving 10,305 rdl. 4 m. 14 sk. 

An order (Assignation) for which is to be redeemed at 

Cape Coast 1,608 " 3 " 

Slaves on St. Thomas have been sold for goods, in part 

for 50 per cent, above the cash price 26,658 " 3 " 6 

To balance account 16 " 8 " 



Total 50,857 rdl. 8 sk. 

The advocates of Company participation in the slave trade 
had used figures based on the Laarburg Galley's last voyage as an 
argument in support of their views. 

"According to the figures we have quoted," ran in effect the 
arguments of the opponents of slave-trade under the Company, 
"there is a loss, up to the time of the ship's return, of but (sic) 
4,697 rdl., 4 sk. on this voyage, which with one exception is the 
most fortunate of twenty voyages which have been undertaken. 
It must at best be called a bad business, when so considerable 
a capital as over 50,000 rdl. must be furnished and is expected 
to yield interest while it is being risked in the waters of three 
continents, and, after all that, is still unable to make a better 
showing to the stockholders." 

The victory of the opposition was decisive. In the final 
vote eighty-five out of a possible one hundred and thirty-four 
votes were registered against the Company's continuing in the 



THE SLAVE TRADE IN THE DANISH WEST INDIES 155 

slave trade, and only twenty-two in favor of it. Twenty-seven 
refrained from voting. The votes of the royal family were among 
the majority. The slave trade was formally thrown open to sub- 
jects in the Danish West Indies who might wish to participate 
by a royal mandate issued April 25, 1734. The directors fixed 
a duty of eight rixdollars on slaves brought to St. Thomas and 
half that sum on those brought to St. Croix. '^^ Since this con- 
cession to freedom in trade failed to bring about the hoped-for 
increase, the trade was thrown open to all Danish subjects, 
whether they lived in home lands or in the colonies. The re- 
sults were just encouraging enough to make it worth while for 
the Company to enter into an agreement with private merchants 
and shipowners on December 3, 1745, with a view to preventing 
needless competition and duplication of effort. Finally, in 
1747, a plan was formulated and put into operation which re- 
sulted in the Company's virtually absorbing the private inter- 
ests. The reorganization of the Danish West India and Guinea 
Company under the "Convention of 1747" marks the last 
stage of the slave trade as a field of investment for that Com- 
pany. An attempt was made to correct some of the more 
common abuses connected with the Guinea trade. Captains 
and officers were forbidden under severe penalty to take slaves 
on board on their own account, and by way of encouragement to 
large cargoes a progressive bounty was provided, beginning 
with 7 rdl. and rising to 20 rdl. for each slave above three hun- 
dred.43 

But the years that elapsed before the king took over the 
Company's holdings in 1754 were too few to permit of any ex- 
tensive development. It became clearer and clearer after 1750 
that the days of the Company were numbered; consequently 
it was more important for the latter to conserve its resources 
than to divert them into uncertain channels. 

So long as men's ideas of human rights suffered no substantial 
change, and so long as the demand for sugar and cotton made 
it profitable to raise those products, just so long would there be 
a demand for slave labor on the West Indian plantations. The 

« Manager MS., 174. 

« Trykte Octroyer . . . for 1750 (Mandate of October 14, 1747). 



156 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

labor problem as it appeared to the merchants and statesmen 
who were called upon to solve it was merely one of method; for 
African slaves remained in the eighteenth, as they had been in 
the seventeenth, century "the strength and sinews of this 
western world." They were indeed the chief agency that fur- 
nished the wealth, for the control of which European nations 
were willing to throw down the gage of conflict and usher in 
titanic wars. In fact, no small part of those resources which 
were dissolved in the smoke of eighteenth-century European 
battlefields was extracted from fertile West Indian plantations 
of cotton and cane by the sweat of the negro's brow. 



CHAPTER Vni 

THE SLAVE AND THE PLANTER 

Few indeed are the negroes in America who are able to tell 
from what part of Africa their ancestors came or to what tribe 
they belonged. Though they have every "prospect of pos- 
terity" the sources by which they might develop a "pride of 
ancestry" are shrouded in impenetrable mystery. Which of 
his forbears came from Calabar or Loango, from the El Mina 
tribe or from Madagascar, it would be next to impossible for 
any negro to tell, and the problem would certainly tax the in- 
genuity of the most skilful genealogist. Yet the black popula- 
tion was as varied in its way as the white. Besides the brand 
of the importing company and the owner there might be found 
on the imported negroes ^ in any plantation colony the tattoo 
marks and slashings that were peculiar to tribes of many differ- 
ent characters, scattered along the African coast from Senegal 
to Loango. These imported negroes were drawn from all sta- 
tions of life in their native land. Their numbers embraced 
rich and poor, haughty chiefs and humble retainers. Not in- 
frequently had a chief been forced to sell some of his own numer- 
ous wives that he might keep his contract with a punctilious 
trader.^ A negro who had been accustomed to rule in his na- 
tive land was not unlikely to prefer death to bondage. If he 
was landed alive he might be expected to make trouble for his 
owner by running away or by stirring up rebellion among his 
fellows. Freshly imported slaves were distributed among the 
older and the native-born slaves in order that the problem of 
adjustment to the new condition of servitude might be ren- 
dered less acute. But the period of "apprenticeship," during 
which the raw laborer had to be broken in to the routine of his 
task, must always have been trying both for slave and owner. 

^ Called Bosal negroes by the Danes and Dutch. 

2 Oldendorp, Udtog . . . (Kjobenhavn, 1784), Part 1, p. 179. 



158 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

The status of the negro was not fixed by any single "black 
code," but was determined by a series of laws passed by the 
colonial authorities from time to time. These regulative 
mandates began to appear before 1700 and became more severe 
as the ratio of negro to white population increased. When 
there were three adult whites for each five adult slaves, as was 
the case in 1691, there was obviously little difficulty; but when 
there came to be not fewer than eight full-grown slaves for each 
adult white person, as was the ratio indicated by the census re- 
ports made in 1720 and 1725, the situation became vastly more 
complicated. With the increasing size of the plantations ^ 
absentee landlordism became more general, a larger number of 
planters was forced to resort to white managers, and in many 
instances the supervision of the slaves was left to negro drivers."* 
The local government often found it difficult to impress upon 
the planters the urgent need of keeping close watch upon their 
slaves. 

Upon an owner's taking possession of a plantation, his first 
care was to have his negroes clear a plot of ground and plant 
such things as maize, yams, sweet potatoes, beans and cassava 
upon it. The negroes were expected to raise all their own food, 
except for such low-grade fish or defective Irish beef as might be 
allotted to them when the food supply ran short. ^ A very few 
plantations were devoted mainly to "provisions," particularly 
on St. Thomas, but never to exceed four per cent, of the total 
number.^ In course of time each negro or negro family was 
allotted a plot of ground, and not infrequently the negroes 
were permitted to sell the surplus for themselves. 

In the busy season the negroes' working day was long and 
hard, though no harder than the lot of many a white farm hand 
of to-day in the Mississippi valley during the harvest and 
threshing season. At about four o'clock in the morning the 

^ The size of the average plantation on St. Thomas in 1725 was nearly twice 
that in 1691. 

* Usually referred to as Bomba negroes. 

sBredal to Directors (July 8, 1718), B. & D., 1717-20. Provisions are 
generally referred to as Kaast or Cosl in the documents. 

" In 1725, out of a total of one hundred and seventy-seven plantations on St. 
Thomas, seven were used for producing provisions. Cf. Appendix H, p. 318. 



THE SLAVE AND THE PLANTER 159 

negro driver, or bomba, would rouse the sleeping slaves by 
ringing a bell or blowing a tuttue, or conch shell. The working 
day began at daybreak, and at eight or nine o'clock they were 
allowed half an hour in the field for a breakfast consisting of 
corn bread and salt meat with perhaps a little sugar-cane juice 
if rations were short. The noon intermission from twelve to 
half past one gave them a chance to prepare their meal and to 
rest during the fierce midday heat. The day's work usually 
ended at sundown, though in harvest season they often con- 
tinued until nine or ten in the evening feeding live-stock, carry- 
ing wood to cook-house and water to cisterns and distilleries. 
Saturday afternoons and Sundays they had to themselves. 

The constant influx of fresh bosal negroes from Guinea 
helped to keep alive the negroes' native customs and super- 
stitions. Witches were especially dreaded. The glance of a 
witch into the eyes of a new-born babe was believed to be likely 
to take away its breath and to cause it to die. A hungry witch 
might even devour an infant that was not protected from its 
gaze. The chief influence that helped to eradicate these be- 
liefs was the presence of the Moravian missionaries. Despite 
bitter opposition from local officials as well as from planters, 
they kept up their beneficent labors from the time of their first 
landing in 1733 until they became a permanent factor in the 
life of the islands. They labored incessantly, whether in the 
fields or in the meeting houses, to teach the simple, ignorant 
slaves the precepts of Christ.^ After over two decades of 
Moravian missionary efforts the Danish Lutheran church finally 
established a regular mission on the islands in 1755. 

Respect for the property of others was not a virtue to which 
the West Indian slave could truthfully lay claim; hence the 
various repressive measures by which the local authorities 
attempted to check the vending of goods by negroes except 
when written permission had been granted by their owners.^ 

'' The classic account of early Moravian missionary efforts in the West Indies 
is that of Oldendorp (q. v.) which forms the basis for the earlier pages of H. 
Lawaetz's Brodremenighedens Mission i Dansk-Vestindien (Kobenhavn, 1902). 

* The first of these appears to have been issued March 29, 1688, by Adolph 
Esmit. CJ. Governors' Orders, Bancroft Collection; Martfeldt MSS., Vol. I, 



160 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

Such goods were too frequently found to have been stolen from 
the slave's owner or from some neighboring planter. 

The planters' most constant difficulty was with runaways. 
Although St. Thomas was but a small island, it did not reach 
its maximum cultivation until towards the end of the first 
quarter of the eighteenth century. The result was that with the 
increasing severity that accompanied the development of the St. 
Thomas plantations, slaves were constantly disappearing into 
the "bush" or wild forest. In order to cope with this problem 
the planters were early organized into a sort of militia whose 
members were assigned to do duty, either on horseback or on 
foot, in the various parts of the island. This planter-police 
was especially useful during the War of the Spanish Succession 
in guarding against raids on St. Thomas plantations by lawless 
elements from among the belligerents.^ Not infrequently hunts 
for runaways (maron-negers) were organized in M'hich slaves 
who could be trusted were employed to do the rough work. 

The chief means of communication between the more remote 
and inaccessible plantations and the harbor on the south side 
was by canoe. The mountainous character of the island and 
the torrential downpours to which it was subject rendered the 
making and repairing of roads a costly matter; but the numer- 
ous "bays" with their convenient beaches lent themselves 
to the keeping of canoes and small sailboats. The latter were 
frequently used by white men who with a few negroes would 
sail off to Crab Island, for instance, the best turtle-fishing 
ground near St. Thomas. When the slave-hunt in the bush 
became too successful, it is not strange that the hunted negroes, 
who were often proficient in handling the canoes, should take 
to the boats and pull for Porto Rico. There, just beyond Crab 
Island, was a promised land from which rarely indeed was a 
slave returned. The government at St. Thomas labored in- 
Placaierfor St. Thomas. The preceding paragraphs on negro life on the planta- 
tions are drawn mainly from an article by J. C. Schmidt, an employee on the 
Princess plantation owned by Governor-General Schimmelman. It appeared 
in Samleren for 1788 (2. B.) under the title Blandede Anmcerkninger, samlede 
paa og over Ejlandet St. Kroix i Amerika. 

9 In Kopibogfor St. Thomas, 1703-15 (July 22, 1704) is a list of the various 
planters, etc., with their duties and places to which they were assigned. 



THE SLAVE AND THE PLANTER 161 

cessantly to prevent an exodus of slaves from the island. From 
the days of John Lorentz to the end of the Company's career, 
numerous ordinances, mandates, and the like were issued cau- 
tioning planters to keep their canoes chained up, and threaten- 
ing them with fines and worse if they failed to obey.^*^ 

The question of the return of fugitive slaves formed during 
the greater part of the history of the Company the principal 
theme of the relations between St. Thomas and Porto Rico. 
The instances where slaves fled from Porto Rico to St. Thomas 
were so exceedingly few that it is impossible to escape the con- 
clusion that the St. Thomas planters, with their more intensive 
cultivation and their desire to gain a competence in a short 
time, treated their slaves far more harshly than the Spanish 
planters, ^^ The Spanish argument for refusing the return of 
fugitive slaves was rather ingenuous in that they held that the 
slaves came over to be baptized. In a claim against the Spanish 
nation made out in the Company's oflSce in Copenhagen in 
1745 and evidently intended for use by the Danish envoy at 
Madrid, the number of slaves that had escaped from both St. 
Thomas and St. Croix to Porto Rico was fixed at three hundred. 
These were of course " the best and most valuable of the Com- 
pany's and the inhabitants' slaves." ^^ The arrival of each new 
Spanish governor became the signal for sending over a deputa- 
tion from St. Thomas to congratulate him and to inquire 
whether or not he brought with him orders from his king con- 
cerning the fugitive slaves. Although the Danish governor 
usually sent over presents in the form of table delicacies and 
was offered others in return,^^ he received no runaway negroes 
nor any equivalent for them. These claims for fugitive slaves 
appear never to have been satisfied during the Company's 
existence, and were indeed not adjusted until 1766. 

lo Extracts for 1703-09 (October 2, 1706), Martfeldt MSS., Vol. VI. Numer- 
ous similar orders were issued at later times. 

^^ In the census list for 1715-16 occurs the item "twenty-four fugitive slaves," 
which seem, however, to have been slaves escaped from St. Eustatius. 

^^ This did not include slaves stolen in 1702, nor two shiploads that stranded 
on the Honduras coast in 1710. Dir. K. B., 1733-54 (May 11, 1745). 

^' See, for instance. Governor Francisco Dania's letter to Governor Magens 
(February 10, 1709) in C. B., 1703-16. Cf. Alberti, Slavehanddens Eistorie, 238. 



162 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

The matter of doling out punishment to unruly negroes had 
its serious difficulties. It early became apparent that with the 
estabhshment of sugar planting as a fixed industry, the punish- 
ment of slaves would have to be done under the supervision 
of the Company's officials. In theory the "Danish law" of 
Christian V was supposed to apply, but the local officials were 
given considerable leeway in its administration, with the result 
that punishments were inflicted pretty much according to 
custom and necessity. The planter would recommend what he 
wished done, and the privy council with the governor would 
issue the final order. One planter's request, made in 1704, that 
a slave be punished for running away by having his foot chopped 
off, was considered too severe, so the poor wretch was only 
"hamstrung." ^^ Sixteen years later another negro belonging 
to the same planter was punished with the amputation of a foot, 
and his owner was reimbursed with an indemnity of 120 rdl.^^ 
From 1720 onwards, indemnification of planters for legally 
killed or injured negroes appears to have been regularly re- 
sorted to, a special tax being levied on the planters for that 
purpose. ^^ Occasionally a case for which no law could be found 
to apply was appealed to the directors in Copenhagen, and 
judgment requested. This occurred once when a planter's 
daughter had had illicit relations with a negro belonging to 
another planter. The West Indian officials recommended 
corporal punishment and life imprisonment for the woman, 
and burning [alive?] "according to the custom of the English 
and the Dutch" for the man. The negro appears to have 
escaped, though the king's sentence seems to have been solemnly 
pronounced from the pulpit, both in the West Indies and in 
Guinea. The woman's fate is not revealed.^'' 

The privy council of St, Thomas, itself a body of planters, 
was naturally inclined to give the planter the benefit of the 
doubt when his relations with his slaves were called into ques- 

"i. P.. St. Th., 16H-1711 (April 21, 1704). 
^'N.J.forirm (May 18). 

" In 1743, a planter who thus lost a slave received 170 rdl. Roy. Libr., 
Uldall. Saml., No. SOfol. (October 21, 1743). 
" P. Manager's note to Directors (May 26, 1732). B. & D., 173S-3h 



THE SLAVE AND THE PLANTER 163 

tion. When in 1735 a prominent planter had shot one of his 
slaves so that he died shortly after, his explanation that he acted 
in self-defense was accepted without serious question, though 
not without an elaborate argument based on the Mosaic code 
and the king's law.^^ 

The many slaves who must have been well cared for and 
humanely treated have left but few traces behind them in the 
records; with them the arm of the law had little or nothing to do. 
As in all plantation societies the hardest work and harshest 
treatment fell upon the field slave. In 1733, the very year in 
which the slave insurrection on St. John broke out, the Com- 
pany's oflBcials on St. Thomas complained that it was nearly 
impossible to get any work out of former Governor Suhm's ^^ 
house negroes, whom the Company had taken over, " unless we 
permit them to seek a master themselves." ^^ They reported at 
the same time the safe arrival at St. Thomas of a negress be- 
longing to the Company, but insisted that she had come back 
from Denmark so lazy that they doubted if they could ever get 
her to work on a plantation again. "So we will have to see," 
they wrote, rather resignedly, "how the Company can secure 
any interest on that capital, for to sell her out of her family would 
bring with it bad consequences." ^^ This is a small gleam, in- 
deed, yet it throws its faint light upon the more humane side of 
the slave-owner's nature. 

The rum shop laid its blighting influence on the land almost 
from the beginning. Tavern brawls were frequent, and the 
murders and assaults for which the taverns furnished the scene 
gave an unpleasant variety to the judicial labors of the local 
authorities. In a land where soldiers received their regular 
allowances of "kill-devil" -^ and where many of the slaves were 
allotted their weekly portion, it is not strange that ordinances 
should have been issued strictly forbidding tavern keepers or 

J8 Kop. & Extr. S. P., St. Th., 1735-52 (October 24, 1735). 
" Henry Suhm was governor of St. Thomas and St. John from 1727 to 
1733. See Appendix A, p. 286. 

20 Governor, etc., to Directors (April 16, 1733), B. & D., 1732-34. 

21 Ibid. 

22 Gardelin papers, passim., Bancroft Collection. 



164 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

other inhabitants from selling intoxicants to negroes.-^ The 
idea that alcoholic drinks helped to acclimatize the new arrival 
had a firm hold on the popular mind. Negro feasts and dances 
were considered a constant menace. It is easy to understand 
why the whites should especially fear a negro mob crazed by 
drink. The legislative device of prohibition by law was not to 
be seriously applied to the negro until after slavery had ceased 
to exist, and then in the present chief home of the American 
negro, the southern United States. 

Insurrection among its slaves has always been considered the 
most terrible experience that a slave-holding society could 
suffer. Whether in Rome with its slave risings, in Sicily or on 
the Italian peninsula, in Virginia with Nat Turner, or in a sugar 
colony in the West Indies, the prospect of a general servile 
uprising has equally alarmed the ruling class. It was during 
the first governorship of John Lorentz in 1691, a year after the 
first serious insurrection reported in the English colony of 
Jamaica, ^^ that clearly defined rumors of a negro plot against 
the whites are first heard. "^ During those early years, when the 
greater number of the slaves on St. Thomas were native Africans, 
it is not strange that threats should have been breathed against 
the governor's life and that planters and Company officials 
alike were constantly on the lookout for conspiracies among 
the slaves. Cruelty on the part of an individual planter was 
likely to be rewarded by his slaves running away. Planters 
and officials must have realized the economic advantages of 
good treatment of so valuable a part of their plantation invest- 
ment as their slaves. It was likely to require something more 
than individual cases of cruelty to bring about actual insurrec- 
tion. 

The most persistent motive that led to general unrest among 
the slaves was lack of food. When months of drought ruined 
the crops of maize, sweet potatoes, and other foods which the 

23 S. P., 1699-17 H (March 19, 1706); cf. Martfeldt MSB., Vol. II (Mandate 
of Governor Moth's bound with Martfeldt's notes, dated December 11, 1741). 

'^^ Southey, Chronological History of the British West Indies (2 vols., London, 
1826). II, 158. 

^^ Lorentz's Journal (February 28, 1691). 



THE SLAVE AND THE PLANTER 165 

negroes were expected to raise for their own sustenance, the 
planters were obHged to buy provisions from outside sources if 
they were to save their negroes' lives and prevent them from 
rising against their masters. In 1725-1726 the drought was 
unusually severe and protracted. A number of the planters 
let their slaves starve to death; others gave them extra hol- 
idays, with the natural result that the blacks stole right and 
left and became exceedingly difficult to manage."® Since open 
resistance to the whites was the worst of crimes, it is not sur- 
prising to find recorded in the Company's books for 1726 that 
seventeen slaves distributed among thirteen planters had been 
executed and were debited to the community at a price of about 
120 rdl. each.^ The planters secured the equivalent for their 
losses in fresh slaves from the next incoming Guinea cargo. ^^ 

In the time that elapsed between the War of the Spanish 
Succession and 1733, when the first serious rebellion began in 
the Danish islands, the Northern War had brought the activi- 
ties of the Company almost to a standstill. Besides this the 
money stringency in the commercial world following the collapse 
of John Law's Mississippi Company made the revival of trade 
in the West Indies very slow. The Company had managed 
nevertheless to assist a group of planters in occupying the small, 
mountainous, but fertile island of St. John.^^ St. Thomas 
reached its maximum slave population and its maximum num- 
ber of plantations during its government by the Company, 
about 1725. St. John's plantations had risen from thirty- 
nine in 1720-1721 to eighty-seven plantations containing a 
slave population of 677 in 1728. By 1733 there were one 
hundred and nine plantations with one thousand and eighty- 
seven slaves on St. John. In other words, there had been an 
increase of sixty per cent, in the number of slaves dur- 

26 5. & D., 1724-27 (November 22. 1725); S. P., St. Th. (May 26, 1725); 
P. B. 0., 1683-1729 (December 18, 1725). 

2' N. J. for 1726 (June 29). This may represent the slaves executed since 
1723, as the planters were requested in 1725 to send in lists of slaves who had 
been condemned to death or severe punishment since that date. Cf. Martfeldt 
MSS., Vol. I, "Placaterfor St. Thomas" (1684-1744). 

28 Mandate of April 12, 1725. Martfeldt MSS., I. 

29 See above, pp. 127-130. 



166 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

ing those five years, but of only twenty-five per cent, in the 
number of plantations. Clearly St. John was rapidly forg- 
ing ahead as a sugar island. St. Thomas, on the other 
hand, had begun to decline as a plantation colony; much 
of its ground had been under cultivation for half a century. 
Many of its planters, as the census lists show, secured planta- 
tions on St. John which they managed by means of hired over- 
seers, they themselves remaining on St. Thomas.^" The difficulty 
so often experienced by planters in securing honest and capable 
managers (Mesterknegte) intensified the dangers of absentee 
landlordism. It was not always possible for all the plantation 
owners to keep their plantations supplied with white overseers 
despite the Company's threats of fines and confiscation. 

The uprising of the slaves on St. John began late in Novem- 
ber, 1733. During the spring and summer preceding there had 




been a long period of drought, followed in July by a destructive 
hurricane which had inflicted considerable damage upon the 
already suffering crops as well as upon buildings and shipping.^^ 
A plague of insects had destroyed many of the products of the 
islands, and the negroes were threatened with famine. Another 
storm in the early winter was especially severe on the maize 
crop on which the negroes largely depended for their food. 
In order to check the disorders among slaves which such a suc- 
cession of disasters naturally encouraged, Philip Gardelin, 

'0 Land Listefor St. Jan, 1733; ibid, St. Thomas. 1733. 

'^ The governor and council reported two ships, thirteen barks, two schooners, 
and two two-masted boats, many canoes, sloops, and ships' boats to have been 
washed ashore and practically destroyed. Martfeldt MSS., Vol. VI, 227 et seq. 
(July 28, 1733). In the report (Generalbrev) sent by the St. Thomas govern- 
ment to the Directors on June 18, 1733, it is stated that because of the drought, 
the Company's plantation on St. John yielded only sLxty-two hhd. of sugar, 
where one hundred and fifty hhd. had been expected. B. & D., 1732-3^. 



THE SLAVE AND THE PLANTER 167 

who had risen from the posts of bookkeeper and merchant for 
the Company at St. Thomas to the position of governor, issued 
on September 5, 1733, a mandate whose terrible severity reflects 
the prevailing tension between master and slave.^^ 

Governor Gardelin's mandate provided that leaders of run- 
aways should be pinched thrice with red-hot irons and then 
hanged. A negro found guilty of conspiracy was to lose a leg, 
unless the owner requested lightening the sentence to one 
hundred fifty lashes and the loss of the negro's ears. Slaves 
failing to report a plot of which they had knowledge were to be 
branded in the forehead and to receive one hundred lashes 
besides. Informers of negro plots could secure cash premiums 
and have their names kept secret. Runaways caught within 
a week were to be punished with one hundred fifty lashes; 
those of three months' standing were to lose a leg; if they re- 
mained away for six months, it would cost them their lives. 
Thievery, and assistance of thieves and runaways, were to be 
punished by whipping and branding. A negro raising his hand 
against a white man must be pinched three times with a hot 
iron; whether he should be hanged or merely lose a hand was 
left to the discretion of his accuser. The testimony of a reputa- 
ble white man against a negro ordinarily sufficed; in case of 
doubt the negro might be submitted to torture. A negro meet- 
ing a white man on the road was to stand aside until the latter 
had passed him. The carrying of sticks or knives, witchcraft 
among negroes, attempts to poison, dances, feasts and music, 
loitering in the village after drumbeat, — all were provided 
against. Free negroes implicated in runaway plots or found to 
have encouraged thievery were to be deprived of liberty and 
property, and after receiving a flogging, to be banished from 
the land. This mandate with its nineteen paragraphs was to 
be proclaimed to the beat of drum three times each year.^' 

^2 Host, Efterretninger, 85 et seq. 

23 J. P. Knox {Historical account of St. Thomas, New York, 1852), pp. 69 et 
seq., gives a crude, inaccurate translation of this mandate, dating it January 31, 
1733. B. V. Petersen (Historisk Beretning, Kjobenhavn, 1855) pp. 49 et seq. 
follows Host's summary word for word, but uses Knox's date. Cf, Oardelin 
Order-book (September 9, 1733), Bancroft Collection. 



168 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

Thus did the authorities attempt to strike terror into the hearts 
of the restless, half-famished negro population. 

On Monday afternoon, November 23, 1733, a very badly 
frightened soldier and some panic-stricken refugees from St. 
John appeared in the fort at St. Thomas harbor and poured 
into the ears of the astonished governor and his council a most 
fearful tale. Early that morning twelve or fourteen of the 
Company's negroes had come up the path on the mountain- 
side to the fort overlooking Coral Bay on St. John, each of them 
with an armful of wood. When the sentinel shouted, "Who is 
there?" he received the answer, "Negroes with wood," and 
opened the door. Rushing inside, the negroes pulled sugar- 
cane knives (Kapmesser) out from the wood and murdered the 
soldier on the spot. Meantime other negroes had assembled 
and together they rushed in upon the sleeping corporal and his 
six soldiers, killing all but one (John Gabriel) who in the early 
twilight managed to save himself by crawling under a bed, and 
later escaped through the bush and down to a canoe by the 
seashore. With the garrison out of the way the negroes pro- 
ceeded to raise the flag and fire three shots from the cannon 
at the fort. This was the signal for a general slaughter on all 
the plantations on the island. 

The ranking magistrate on St. John, John Reimert Soedt- 
mann,^^ and his stepdaughter were among the first victims 
of that fateful day. A band of negroes, including some of 
Soedtmann's own, routed them both out and put them to death 
in the early morning. Soedtmann's wife was saved by the cir- 
cumstance of her being on a visit to St. Thomas. Roaming 
about from plantation to plantation in that dim tropic dawn 
they slaughtered such whites as they could find, planters and 
overseers, women and children. As the bloody work proceeded, 
the band increased their numbers. The Company's and Soedt- 
mann's negroes were joined by others;"^'' and by the middle of 
the afternoon a body of eighty desperate blacks, half of them 

^* Host (p. 91) refers to him mistakenly as Christian Soetman. 

*^ Among the others were the negroes of former Governor Suhm, of town- 
judge Lorentz Hendricksen and of Pieter Kroyer. Gardelin MSS. (Novem- 
ber 23, 1733); cf. Martfeldi MSS., Ill, "Om Rebellionen paa St. John." 



THE SLAVE AND THE PLANTER 169 

with flintlocks or pistols, the rest with cane-knives and other 
murderous weapons, were ready to attack those whites that re- 
mained. Though murder was rife, its course did not run ab- 
solutely without control. One Cornelius Bodger, the surgeon 
on St. John, and his two young step-sons were saved, — the 
former because of his medical skill, the latter because the rebels 
hoped to make these boys their servants. Someone's interces- 
sion at the last moment saved the life of a former overseer of 
the Company who accepted with alacrity the invitation of the 
rebels to leave the island.^^ 

The surviving planters, with such negroes as remained faith- 
ful, had in the meantime collected at Peter Deurloo's plantation 
on the northwest corner of the island. The approach to " Deur- 
loo's Bay" was easily guarded, and the fugitive planters were 
within fairly easy reach of St. Thomas. While the St. Thomas 
oflScials and planters were making such preparations for their 
relief as they could, a small band of whites ^'^ under the leadership 
of Captain of Militia John von Beverhoudt ^^ and Lieutenant 
John Charles, together with a score or more of their best negroes, 
were hastening with feverish activity to prepare for the rebel 
onslaught. The women and children were quickly transported 
to nearby islets. A number of the planters on the south side 
and on the west end of the island were warned by friendly slaves 
in time to permit them to join the men at Deurloo's or to seek 
safety in their canoes. 

The negroes had met some resistance from a planter in "Can- 
eel" Bay.^^ They finally drove him off and stopped to plunder 

^ This was Dennis (or Dines) Silvan. He fled to Tortola, the English island 
lying within sight of St. John. 

" P. J. Pannet in his Relation dated December 4 {Werlauff MSS., No. 22, 
Royal Libr., Copenhagen) gives the number at Deurloo's as about seventeen 
whites and twenty negroes, while the Company's officials in their letter to the 
Directors of January 5, 1734 {Martfeldt MSS., Ill), give forty whites and about 
twenty-five negroes as the number of those on the defensive against the rebels. 

^^ Also spelled Bewerhoudt, Beverhout, Beverhoudt. Among the other white 
inhabitants at Deurloo's plantation were John Runnels, Timothy Turner 
{Thorner), William Zytzema, and Peter Sorensen. Gardelin MSS. (Novem- 
ber 23, 1733.) 

^^ John Jansen lived with his wife on a cotton plantation belonging to his 



170 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

his plantation, consequently they did not descend the mountain 
path toward Deui'loo's plantation until 3 o'clock in the after- 
noon. When they came they found themselves confronted by , 
the few cannon with which the plantation was furnished. Fear- 
ing to face the cannon with their charges of ball, they betook 
themselves to the bush, from which they emerged at intervals 
to fire blindly and clumsily at their ertswhile masters. Had 
they rushed their opponents at the start the negroes might 
at the expense of a few lives have mastered the plantation and 
captured its defenders. Instead they kept up their desultory 
firing during the greater part of the night and resumed it the 
following morning with scarcely any loss to the whites. The 
arrival of the news at St. Thomas had paralyzed all. Wives 
trembled for their husbands, mothers for their children. Gov- 
ernor Gardelin shared the general consternation. It was not 
until former Governor Moth appealed to Gardelin not to aban- 
don the children of his government to the barbarity of their 
heathen slaves that a boat with sixteen or eighteen soldiers, 
led by a sergeant and a corporal, was provisioned with food and 
ammunition and sent to the relief of the St. John planters. 
Several Creole slaves with guns accompanied the party. 

The arrival of the reinforcements which were commanded by 
William Barens, a well-to-do Dutch planter of St. Thomas,^'' 
put new heart into the besieged party. Further reinforce- 
ments, consisting largely of negroes belonging to the Company 
and to planters on St. Thomas,^^ enabled the planters to retake 
the fort and disperse the negroes to the woods. Urged on by 
the Company's officials, the soldiers and planters on St. John 
began a war of extermination. For a time the negroes managed 
to use the Suhm plantation as their rendezvous,'*^ but before the 
Christmas season they had been pretty effectually scattered 

mother which was 3000 x 1500 feet in size. Three "capable" slaves and four 
children constituted his labor outfit in 1733. L. L., St. J., 1733. 

*" He was credited in the census of 1733 with more than forty slaves. 

•" Gardelin reported sending twenty-one of the former and twelve of the 
latter. Gardelin to Sergeant Thomas Magens (November 25, 1733). Gardelin 
MSS., Bancroft Collection. 

*^ Pannet's Relation. 



THE SLAVE AND THE PLANTER 171 

over the island. Attempts by various stratagems to capture 
any considerable number of them failed. A white planter, one 
William Vessup, who had murdered a neighbor some months 
before and whom the authorities had failed to apprehend, was 
given to understand that his assistance in the slave-hunt would 
be welcomed by the government. ^^ The negroes proved too 
wary to permit themselves to fall into the trap he prepared for 
them. Their shortage of ammunition had even led them to 
ofiFer Vessup ten negroes if he would get them as many barrels 
of powder.^'* Enough negroes were killed or captured, however, 
to cause Governor Gardelin to express the fear that the decay- 
ing bodies of the dead rebels might bring a seventh misfortime 
— the plague — upon the stricken colony.''^ The planter Peter 
Pannet states in his account of December 4 that thirty-two 
rebels had actually been executed, and that others were being 
tried.^^ 

The fear that the rebellion might spread to St. Thomas and 
Tortola not only roused the St. Thomas planters to contribute 
some of their slaves to the hunt on the sister island, but led 
their English neighbors to lend a helping hand. With many of 
their plantations ravaged, their crops neglected or destroyed, 
their cattle running wild or furnishing food for rebel slaves, it is 
small wonder that the St. John planters asked the Company to 
bear a substantial share of the burden of putting down the 
trouble and even requested that they should be exempted from 
taxes for a term of years.^^ After nearly ten weeks of vain 
effort a certain Captain Tallard ^^ of an English man-of-war 
visiting Tortola sent sixty men to St. John to join in the pursuit; 
but an ambush in the night resulted in the wounding of four 
English sailors and the consequent withdrawal of the English 

^^ Gardelin MSS., William Vessup, who had owned a large plantation (4700 x 
4040 feet) on St. John, had killed one Carl Henry Kuhlmann. The murderer's 
family remained for some time on the Danish islands but in very poor circum- 
stances. 

** Pannet's Relation. 

45 Gardelin, etc., to Directors (January 5, 1734). Martfeldt MSS., Vol. III. 

4® Pannet's Relation. 

" Account of St. John rebellion (July 23, 1734) in Martfeldt MSS., Vol. III. 

« Or Toller. 



172 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

forces.^® On February 17, that is, not long after this disap- 
pointment, the St. John planters again appealed for assistance 
from the English. On Sunday, March 7, another English cap- 
tain, John Maddox, came from St. Kitts and landed on the 
island with about fifty volunteers,^'' though his entire party was 
reported to Governor Gardelin as consisting of seventy men.^^ 
A carefully worded contract was drawn up specifying with pre- 
cision the duties of both parties and enumerating the rewards 
to be given for slaves captured. The attorney for the govern- 
ment, "fiscal" Ditlof Nicholas Friis, was sent to St. John to 
see that the contract was adhered to. Such elaborate pre- 
cautions proved quite unnecessary. After a vain and wearying 
search Captain Maddox suddenly came upon the rebels on the 
eleventh day (March 18), but he was taken by surprise, for the 
negroes killed three of his men and wounded five others without 
any loss to them, so far as could be ascertained.^^ Maddox's 
men stood not upon the order of their going; they fled at once 
and left the island on the following day. 

Stratagems, attempts at poisoning, and the armed forces of 
Danes and English had failed alike to dislodge or exterminate 
the desperate slaves. In the extremity of their despair the 
Danish colonists turned to the French on Martinique. A 
French boat was lying in the harbor, and three or four days 
after Maddox's departure, the French skipper set sail for Mar- 
tinique with the Company's bookkeeper, John Horn, on board. 
Horn's instructions permitted him to offer the French four-fifths 
of the remaining rebels — (their numbers were estimated at a 
hundred men and women) — if they could catch them. Twenty 
of the worst ones were to be handed over to the Company, 
evidently for exemplary punishment. The St. Thomas gov- 
ernment pledged itself to furnish provisions for anywhere from 

« S. P., St. Th. 1723-35. The first appeal to the Tortola authorities was made 
by Gardelin in a letter to Markox at Spanishtown, dated November 29, 1733. 
See Gardelin MSS. under that date. 

'^° Om Rebellionen . . . March 16, 1734. Martfeldt MSS., III. The arrange- 
ment seems to have been made on February 18. Cf. Gardelin MSS. (Febru- 
ary 18, 1734). 

" Gardelin to Bewerhoudt (March 9, 1734). Gardelin MSS. 

" Om Rebellionen . . . May 4, 1734. Martfeldt MSS., III. 



THE SLAVE AND THE PLANTER 173 

one to two hundred men.^^ Its envoy was provided with a fund 
of 600 rdl. to be expended as Horn saw fit. 

When two French barks anchored in St. Thomas harbor on 
the morning of April 23 with the bookkeeper John Horn and 
two hundred and twenty Creoles and experienced officers on 
board, the oft-disappointed colonists began to see their hopes re- 
vive. With renewed energy and resolution the governor and the 
inhabitants set to work to insure the success of this final effort. 
With a splendid enthusiasm the French had offered, wrote Gov- 
ernor Gardelin to John Beverhoudt on St. John, to send as many 
as six hundred men to the assistance of the Danes. The planters 
contributed seventy-four West Indian negroes to assist in the 
chase, though the governor had asked for a hundred and 
fifteen.^^'' 

Why the French should respond so joyfully it would be 
rather difficult to explain were it not for certain European con- 
ditions. France was preparing to take up the cause of Stanis- 
las Leszczynski, father-in-law of Louis XV, in his attempt 
to secure the Polish throne. France, which had scarcely re- 
covered from the collapse of the Mississippi Bubble, was in 
serious need of money. She was also anxious for Denmark's 
neutrality in the coming War of the Polish Succession. In 
this extremity a shrewd director of the Danish company 
turned the trick by offering the French envoy 750,000 livres 
for the island of St. Croix, with Denmark's neutrality thrown 
in. But the news of the transfer and of Denmark's friend- 
ship reached the French islands through their home govern- 
ment considerably before the directors at Copenhagen got 
ready to send a ship to St. Thomas. Nor do the French from 
Martinique appear to have divulged to the Danish authorities 
at St. Thomas the mainsprings of their zeal.^^ To the dis- 

^^ Horn's instructions included various alternative proposals. He was em- 
powered to hire a vessel, engage a hundred men and to buy provisions for them 
on the Company's account. Cf. Gardelin MSS. (March 21, 1734) for these 
instructions. 

^^ Gardelin MSS. (April 23 and May 3, 1734) gives a list of the sixty-eight 
planters. 

^^ For a detailed account of the acquisition of St. Croix, see Chap- 
ter X. 



174 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

tressed planters and Company it was the fact of assistance 
and not its motives that mattered. 

On the day following their arrival the French under their 
commander Longueville were promptly dispatched to St. John. 
The Danish governor lost no time in sending on planks for the 
soldiers' barracks and fresh meat for food.^® Crown attorney 
Friis was ordered to St. John to take charge of the negroes as 
they were captured. He was to try and judge half of those 
caught and the others were to be sent to St. Thomas for trial. 
The French commandant was to preside over the drumhead 
court-martial when it should be called, but a Danish represen- 
tative was to be present.^'^ A force of twenty-five or thirty 
Danes under Lieutenant Froling was got together and sent 
over to work in conjunction with the French. ^^ 

Within three or four days of their arrival the French forces 
were encamped and ready for their grim labors. Only five 
days before the arrival of the French on St. John, a party of 
about forty rebels had made a fierce attack, lasting an hour and 
a half, upon the burghers who were encamped on Deurloo's 
plantation. They managed to set the supply magazine on 
fire, but suffered a loss of three killed and six badly wounded. ^^ 
From April 29 when they met their first party of rebels to May 
27 when they returned to St. Thomas, the French force clung 
tenaciously to the heels of their quarry until they were unable 
to find the trace of a single live rebel. During the first three 
weeks they had to march up hill and down dale, through bush 
and bramble in an almost continual downpour of rain. By 
working in shifts they completely wore out the energies of the 
rebels, some of whom m lack of guns had armed themselves 
with bows and arrows .®° On May 9 they learned that the ne- 
groes were assembled on a certain point or small peninsula of 
land. The band escaped, but a wounded boy showed the 

^^Gardelin to " Commandeur Sergiant" Ottingen (April 23, 1734). Gar- 
delin MSS. 

" Gardelin to Friis (April 24, 1734). Gardelin MSS. 

^8 Gardelin to Froling (April 24, 1734). Ibid. 

^9 Om Rebellionen . . . (May 4. 1734), Martfeldt MSS., III. 

80 Domme afsagt over Negere (May 21, 1734), B. & D.. 1732-3i.. 



THE SLAVE AND THE PLANTER 175 

French where eleven rebels lay in the bush, dead by their own 
act. A week later eight rebels gave themselves up in the hope 
of averting the captured rebel's fate. Two more were killed 
with a single shot, and two were found murdered. Of the rest 
there was no trace until May 24, when a report came in that 
twenty-four dead rebels had been found on an outjutting point 
of land in an unsuspected place, with their muskets broken.^^ 
They were reported as having lain there for perhaps a fort- 
night. 

The Danish officials in their reports to the directors could 
not praise highly enough the courage of the French on the field 
and their uniform courtesy everywhere. "The fatigues that 
the French have undergone," wrote the governor in his report 
to his masters, "from the first day that they came to St. John 
cannot be adequately described. . . . The obligations that we 
are under to the French officers merits a far greater reward 
than we are able to give them. The commandant himself 
marched with his men for four days through forests and valleys, 
up steep mountain-sides, and in a continuous slush and rain, 
with no roof above him but the sky. Next to God, they [the 
officers], because of their tireless effort, deserve the credit for 
the present peace. Their bravery and persistence and the 
cheerfulness with which they encouraged their men, who began 
very early to tire from their strenuous efforts, will we trust be 
properly rewarded in high places. . . ." ^^ 

On their arrival at St. Thomas on May 27 Commandant 
Longueville and his officers and men were shown every attention 
and courtesy. An offer of 5,000 "French guldens" was politely 
refused by the French officer. After five days of celebration 
the French, accompanied by John Horn, embarked for Martin- 
ique. There, in turn, the Danes were treated by the French 
officials with marked cordiality and deference.®^ 

This happy outcome, happy so far as the whites were con- 
cerned, was marred by a bitter quarrel between the local govern- 

^' This may be the group that tradition, as recorded by Host and those follow- 
ing his account, has magnified to three hundred. See Host, op. eit., p. 96. 
e^ Om. Rebellionen . . . (July 23, 1734). Martfeldt MSS., Vol. HI. 
'^ Ihid. 



176 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

ment and the planters, each side trying to blame the other for 
the uprising with a view to being relieved of part of the expense. 
But the end of the rebellion was not quite at hand; for early in 
August — ^two months after the French had left — the report 
came in that a party of fourteen negroes and negresses, led by 
one Prince ^^ was still at large, though without firearms. To 
avoid an expensive "maroon hunt" Theodore Ottingen, an 
officer who had taken part in the suppression of the rebellion 
since its beginning, managed on promise of pardon to lure the 
fifteen remaining rebels to their former owners' plantations.^^ 
On the pretext that they would have to be appraised, every 
one of them was seized at a given signal on the morning of 
August 25 and brought to St. Thomas, Prince was not among 
them, for he had — fortunately for himself — been beheaded, and 
his head was a trophy in Ottingen's baggage. Of these fifteen 
rebels four "died" in prison before they could be brought to 
trial, four were condemned to be worked to death on the St. 
Croix fortifications, and the rest were done to death in various 
ways "such as they deserved because of their gruesome deeds," 
as the official letter has it.^^ 

With this piece of treachery, as it would be called in this age, 
a success for which the responsible officer received high praise 
from his superiors and a lieutenancy on St. Croix, the insurrec- 
tion of 1733-1734 on St. John came to an end. Besides those 
killed in conflict and those belonging to the Company, twenty- 
seven negroes were estimated to have been tried and executed .^^ 
A list made out in February, 1734, just before Maddox's ill- 
fated attempt, showed one hundred forty -six negro men and 
women implicated in rebellion at that time. It is clear that the 
story of the three hundred negroes found dead in a circle on a 
mountain near "Brims Bay" is pure fancy. It was first told 
by Host®^ whose account of the rebellion is based partly on 

^* A negro belonging to Madame Elizabeth Runnels. 

'* See Gardelin'fl instructions and letters to Ottingen in Gardelin MSS. (Au- 
gust 9. 16, and 21, 1734.) 

68 Om RebeUionen . . . December 28, 1734. Martfeldi MSS., Vol. III. 

6» Ibid. 

'* Host, EJterretninqer, 96. A recent repetition of this story is to be found in 
Keller, Colonization, p. 500. 



THE SLAVE AND THE PLANTER 177 

documents and partly on hearsay and has been repeated numer- 
ous times since. 

When the time for stock-taking came, it was found that 
planters were entitled to remuneration for thirty slaves that had 
been condemned to death or to work in irons,®^ and for six others 
— two belonging to St. John and four to St. Thomas planters. 
These six had been killed while fighting for their owners.^" Of 
ninety-two plantations listed by Theodore Ottingen probably 
late in 1734 or in 1735, forty-eight were recorded as having 
suffered damage, forty-four as having escaped it. Of the forty- 
eight, thirty were being cultivated when the report was made; of 
the forty-four not damaged, thirty-two were being cultivated. 
On forty-one plantations, valuable buildings had been partly 
or wholly burned down by the rebels. The money loss was 
estimated, according to Host, at 7,905 rdl. a considerable sum 
for so small an island. ^^ As to loss of life by the white popula- 
tion, probably not a fourth of the whites were killed by the 
negroes. But this human hurricane had been far more devastat- 
ing than any sent out from Nature's workshop, for it had not 
only destroyed men and their labor of years, but hardened their 
hearts and greatly delayed the prospect for more normal and 
human relations between master and slave in the Danish islands. 
It was perhaps fortunate that the acquisition of the fertile 
island of St. Croix occurred so shortly after this event, for this 
gave a welcome opportunity for the recuperation of the de- 
moralized planters and turned the attention of men to new 
problems. With the development of St. Croix the economic 
center of gravity was gradually to be shifted to the new island, 
and the awful experiences of 1733 and 1734 were destined soon 
to become receding memories. 

The government and colonists had learned a lesson in vigilance 
which it would be hard to forget. As reflection took the place 
of passion, perhaps they saw still more clearly the efficacy of 

^* Planters received 120 rdl. each for all full-grown slaves legally condemned 
to death. 

^» S. P., St. Th. 1735-52 (October 22, 1736). 

''^"Specification paa de Plantagier ..." (1734?). B. & D., 173S-S4; 
Host, 97, 98. 



178 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

humaneness. At any rate, it was a quarter of a century before 
the Danish colonists were again seriously threatened with a 
slave insurrection, and then it was on the new and rapidly de- 
veloping island of St. Croix. The story of the attempted re- 
bellion of 1759 belongs to the post-Company history of that 
island. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE PLANTER AND THE COMPANY 

The powers of government which Christian V placed in the 
hands of the directors of the Danish West India and Guinea 
Company were almost as absolute within their West Indian 
sphere as were the powers of the Danish king within his Euro- 
pean dominions. This was necessarily so, for the venture was 
primarily commercial. Its purpose was to furnish a profitable 
field of investment for men with capital; hence the need of 
concentrating the management of the Company's resources in 
few hands. The absolutism which Christian V inherited from 
his father was based upon the theory of Divine Right. The 
directors of the Company, on the other hand, received their 
powers from a very worldly body of shareholders to whom they 
rendered account and by whom they might be removed. 

The directorates of the Danish East and West India com- 
panies at the beginning were in a sense committees delegated 
to the work from the recently established Board of Trade. 
The king, as the most powerful shareholder in the Company, 
appointed the three original directors himself, but entirely from 
among the members of the Board of Trade. Acting with these 
directors in an advisory capacity and representing in a fairly 
direct manner the interests of the bulk of the shareholders, was 
a body of men known as "chief shareholders." From 1671 to 
1733 the membership of the board of directors rose from three 
to seven; that of the chief shareholders, from two to five. The 
part played by two able directors, Juel and Moth, in guiding 
the Company through a maze of commercial misfortunes and 
diplomatic difficulties, has been brought out in a preceding 
chapter.^ In the immediate supervision of affairs on St. Thomas, 
these men were given practically a free field. 

^ See Chapter III, above. For lists of officials see Appendix B. 
[ 179 ] 



180 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

When matters which especially afiPected the stockholders in 
general came up, such as the need of securing additional funds 
to enlarge the Company's activities, the situation was presented 
to the General Assembly of the Company, where each holder 
of a full share of stock had one vote.^ Serious problems con- 
nected with the Company were sometimes referred by the king to 
a special commission appointed (as was the case during the first 
two decades of Christian V's reign) from the membership of 
the Board of Trade, or they were turned over (as was the case 
from 1690 to 1705) to special bodies known from their place of 
meeting as "Commissions in the Council Chamber of the Royal 
Castle." The majority of the members of such commissions 
were usually officials of the Company. 

In 1704, early in Frederick IV's reign, the Board of Trade was 
revived, and four years later it was combined with the Police 
Board of Copenhagen into the Board of Police and Trade which 
continued down to 1731. On at least two occasions, in 1715 and 
in 1720, this body submitted to the king reports on petitions 
from St. Thomas planters.^ 

The dimensions of Denmark's commercial and colonial enter- 
prises were never such as to permit the Board of Trade to 
develop into a body which could be compared in its specialized 
advisory functions to the Board of Trade and Plantations in 
England. When William III founded the latter board in 
1696, the greater number of the English colonies had already 
passed out of the control of chartered companies. The active 
control of the business of the Danish West India and Guinea 
Company rested, as has been indicated, almost solely upon the 
directors. They selected the governors and chief officials both 
in Guinea and in St. Thomas, subject only to confirmation by 
the king; they found captains for their trading vessels and pro- 
vided ministers to care for the souls of employees, planters, and 
slaves. The directors through their factor in Copenhagen were 
expected to find a market either at home or abroad for African 
ivory and West Indian sugar, cotton, and indigo.^ They were 

^ See above, p. 34. 

3 See below, pp. 190-191. See also Appendix F, pp. 306-314. 

■• Parts of the cargoes were usually offered at auction to local buyers. 



THE PLANTER AND THE COMPANY 181 

obliged to keep in close touch with the Dutch money market 
and to buy insurance for both ships and cargoes from Dutch 
insurance firms. In disputes between planters and Company 
officials in the West Indies, they were expected to act as arbiters 
unless the appeal was made directly to the king; in any case 
they were consulted before judgment was rendered. They were 
supposed to maintain the authority and dignity of the king 
among the colonists and with their various foreign neighbors. 

Although the directors were given practically full power in 
the general management of the Company, they were forced in 
turn to give considerable latitude of action to their West Indian 
officials. The "Gdvernor and Council of St. Thomas" were to 
be sure provided with most elaborate sets of instructions in- 
tended to cover every emergency, but the remoteness of the 
island from Denmark and the difficulty of keeping in close touch 
with it by post led the island officials to take more and more 
liberties with their orders and sometimes to use their positions 
for peculation and graft. For instance, as a result of his opera- 
tions during the later years of the War of the Spanish Succession, 
Governor Crone was accused of collusion with the governor of 
Porto Rico and of gross fraud in the conduct of the Company's 
affairs. He died before the suit against him came to an end, 
but one of the members of his council. Christian Seeberg, 
treasurer at St. Thomas, was finally convicted of fraud and 
forced to pay a large fine. Governors Bredal and Gardelin owed 
their advancement to their reputation for honesty and to their 
ability to expose corruption in the management of the Com- 
pany's affairs. 

The chief official besides the governor consisted in the be- 
ginning of the merchant or factor, the bookkeeper, and the 
secretary. After John Lorentz's death in 1702, the factor 
Joachim von Holten who had failed to secure the governorship ^ 
ad interim, was made "chief factor" (Opper-Kjobmand) by way 
of solace. In 1703 the office of treasurer (Casserer) began to 
appear in the list of officials.^ This continued to be the com- 

^ Claus Hansen was elected as governor ad interim by the council {Interims- 
Vice-Commandant) February, 1702. 
« Martfeldt MSS., Vol. VI, p. 207 (June 10, 1703). 



182 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

position of the council, or privy council (Secrete-Raad), as it 
came early to be called, until the reorganization of the Company 
after the purchase of St. Croix. With the governorship of John 
Lorentz the Company began the policy of procuring its adminis- 
trators from officials who had had experience in actual service 
in the Company's government at St. Thomas. Lorentz himself 
had begun as an assistant and was secretary and ex officio mem- 
ber of the council when Heins' death called him to the governor- 
ship. His successor Clans Hansen had been lieutenant at the 
fort and a council member. In fact, of the eight governors who 
held office m St. Thomas from 1702, when Lorentz died, to 1733, 
when Gardelin became governor, only two had not had their 
preliminary training in St. Thomas. One of these. Otto J. 
Thambsen, had been a commander (Schoutbynacht) in the 
Danish navy; and the other, Henry Suhm, had been in charge 
of Fort Christiansborg on the Guinea coast.^ Neither of these 
men found his work congenial or was able to get on well with 
the inhabitants of the colony. 

The success of the Company as a commercial venture de- 
pended very largely upon the ability and integrity of its West 
Indian representatives. In order to procure those full return 
cargoes on the advantageous sale of which the Company relied 
mainly for its dividends, the West Indian government needed to 
keep on good terms with the planters. Whenever a planter re- 
ceived better offers from Dutch or other skippers than from the 
Company, it became a difficult and delicate matter to force him 
to part with his produce. Although in theory the Company's 
officials held all administrative, legislative, and judicial powers 
in their own hands, they were obliged in practice to pay very 
real heed to the desires of the islanders. 

The relations between government and planters were affected 
by a variety of circumstances. Too high duties or other annoy- 
ing trade restrictions led the planters to attempts at evasion. 
In this they were aided by the numerous indentations or "bays" 
which made smuggling easy. Threats of shortage in provisions 
through drought, hurricanes or other causes sometimes forced 
the local government to take prompt measures for the relief of 

' Cf. AppeTidix A, p. 285. 



THE PLANTER AND THE COMPANY 183 

the inhabitants. During the severe drought in St. Thomas 
in 1725-1726, when negroes were dying for lack of food,^ the 
St. Thomas government admitted free of duty all incoming 
provisions except liquors. The request of a delegation of 
planters that outgoing goods likewise be freed from duty was 
not granted.^ At that time St. Thomas was mainly dependent 
upon New York for its lumber and provisions. The duty had 
previously been five per cent, on incoming and six per cent, on 
outgoing goods, according to the St. Thomas market price; and 
as recently as May 18, 1724, Governor Thambsen had issued an 
order granting to New York skippers the special privilege of 
importing provisions at five per cent, duty, calculated on the 
cost price in New York, and receiving payment in sugar and 
cotton on which no export duty was required. ^° 

The home authorities were rather slow to admit the necessity 
of consulting the inclinations of the colonists in the selection of 
their West Indian governors. Governor Lorentz was the choice 
of the planters, and the directors gladly confirmed his election 
by the council; but Thormohlen's governor, Delavigne, suc- 
ceeded so poorly in winning the good will of the planters that the 
colony might have gone to ruin except for Lorentz's timely 
return. On the latter's death the council appointed eight of the 
leading planters to act with it in selecting a successor. The 
council nevertheless proceeded to elect the merchant Joachim 
von Holten to the governorship, regardless of the planters' 
desires. The result was a mass meeting of all the planters on the 
day following, called, as the records of the privy council rather 
euphemistically report, "at the order of the honorable council." 
On the insistence of eighty planters, of whom twenty-one signed 
a vigorously worded petition with their marks, the "honorable 
council " reconsidered the election and chose the planters' candi- 
date. Lieutenant Glaus Hansen. The directors confirmed the 
election, but they took particular pains to remind the planters 
that the election of a governor was none of their concern. ^^ 

* See above, p. 165. 

9 S. P. for St. Th. (October 3, 21, 23, 1725). 
" P. B. 0., 1683-1729 (May 18, 1724). 

" Kop. og Extr., S. P. for St. Th.. 1699-17U. "Litra S" (June 12, 13, 1702); 
MaHfeldt MSS., vol. VI, p. 207 et seq. 



184 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

On the death of Governor Hansen's successor, Joachim von 
Holten in 1708 the privy council actually called in twelve in- 
habitants to assist them in electing a governor. ^^ The War of 
the Spanish Succession, with the West Indies as the scene of 
much of its sea-fighting, furnished a golden opportunity for 
venturesome neutrals; and especially on St. Thomas had the 
planters and traders become wealthy and influential through 
dealing in captured ships and cargoes brought in by the priva- 
teers of the warring nations. 

The fact that the governor rarely succeeded in outliving his 
term of office had resulted in giving the local officials and 
planters their opportunity to take a hand in naming their chief 
executive, at least until the directors could be heard from. 
Governor Erik Bredal who succeded Michael Crone ui 1716 in- 
sisted so strongly on being relieved of his office that in Sep- 
tember, 1723, the directors found themselves for the first time in 
many years nominating and electing a governor. ^^ The re- 
cipient of this signal honor was Otto Jacob Thambsen, Com- 
mander in the Royal Navy. He was awarded the unusually 
large salary of 1200 rdl. per annum. On his arrival late in 
April, 1724, he found the books ia great confusion, the secre- 
tary quite useless, customs duties uncollected for years back, 
the council refractory, and the planters unwilling to do the 
directors' bidding.^^ After ten weeks at St. Thomas he wrote 
to his masters: "You must not suppose that because I do not 
complain, I find it enjoyable here ... I pray that the gentle- 
men will not take it amiss if I remark that St. Thomas and my 
office appear to me like the lion's cave, where all the footprints 
pointed in and from which none pointed out."^^ The directors 
who often exhibited a painful obtuseness could hardly miss the 
point, but before they could take any action, the sickness of the 
incumbent appears to have compelled the privy and the com- 
mon councils to elect a successor whom they found in Captain 

^""Martfeldt MSS., Vol. VI, 1703-1709 (December 31, 1708). 
*^ See list of governors in Appendix A. 

1* Thambsen to Directors (May 16, 1724), B. & D., 17S1-U: S. P. for St. Th. 
(May 25, August 18, 1724). 
" Ibid., (July 14, 1724), B. & D., 17S1-U- 



THE PLANTER AND THE COMPANY 185 

Frederick Moth who in the position of chief factor had com- 
mended himself to the directors. ^^ 

The common or burgher comicil mentioned in connection 
with the election of Governor Moth, appears to have originated 
in 1703. It was certainly in existence at that date, for in their 
instructions of March 27, 1703, the directors requested that in 
case the governor was unable to settle disputes between the 
inhabitants, he should refer the case to the common council 
{det ordinaire Raad) over which the secretary ^^ was to preside 
and which should consist of six reputable planters. From this 
council or court the case might be appealed to the privy council 
of St. Thomas sitting as a superior court (Opper-Ret).^^ Cases 
involving "life, honor, or blood," or money sums of more than 
200 rdl. might be appealed to the directors. ^^ 

The capitalist planters that arose on St. Thomas as a result 
of the conditions brought about by the War of the Spanish 
Succession showed themselves willing to go to considerable 
lengths to make their wants and grievances known to the 
authorities. Two memorable instances illustrate the increas- 
ing economic independence of the planters and the growing 
consciousness of their importance. One of these occurred in 
1706-1707, just before the St. Thomas "boom" reached its 
height, and the other in 1715-1716, when the reaction which 
frequently follows a general war had brought with it a period 
of economic depression at St. Thomas. 

It was early in 1706, about the time that Joachim von Holten 
was elected governor,^" that the planters began to make definite 
plans to send over delegates to present their demands in per- 
son. They had previously sent two communications to the 
directors, but had received no reply. FinaUy a little while be- 
fore the scheduled departure of the Company's ship, which oc- 

^^Martfeldt MSS., Vol. VI, 1723-1731, pp. 297 et seq. (November 21, 1724); 
ihid.. Secrete Raads Resolutioner . . . fra 1723-1739 (August 18, 1724). 

^' Christian Seeberg or Soebierg, later convicted of fraud. 

^* In 1703 this superior court consisted of Governor Hansen, chief factor J. von 
Holten, bookkeeper Diedrich Magens, treasurer R. Henningsen, and secretary 
C. Seeberg. Martfeldt MSS., Vol. VI. 1703-1709 (June 12, 1703). 

" Ibid. 

20 von Holten was elected in February, 1706. 



186 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

curred during the first week in April, the planters held a meet- 
ing, appointed two of their number, Andrew Zinck and Anthony 
Zytsema, to act as commissioners, and prepared for them an 
elaborate set of instructions with the demands enumerated in 
an imposing list of sixteen paragraphs. The instructions were 
signed by sixty-nine planters of whom eight signed with their 
marks. The signers included practically all the influential 
planters. ^^ 

A resume of these demands will serve to show the sort of con- 
ditions and regulations by which the planters of St. Thomas 
felt themselves aggrieved. They began by urging an appeal 
to the Danish government to bestir itseK to secure the St. 
Thomas vessels that had been seized by the French, English, 
and Spanish during the war. A number of the planters owned 
vessels with which they had carried on various kinds of trade, 
both permitted and forbidden. The St. Thomas inhabitants 
rightly felt that something might be gained if the home govern- 
ment could secure exemption from seizure of vessels not carry- 
ing contraband. But in such a titanic struggle, nothing but a 
generous display of force could make the powers involved accede 
to any re'quest that Denmark might make, especially when it 
touched upon their own interests. They desired, as St. Thomas 
planters continued to desire for the next forty years, the return 
of slaves that had escaped to Porto Rico. This presupposed 
their expressed hope that Denmark might again come into 
peaceful relations with Spain, something that was not likely to 
be speedily brought about, since Denmark had not even had 
an envoy at Madrid after the beginning of the Spanish Succes- 
sion war.^^ 

With respect to matters of local taxation they asked for the 
revocation of the charges known as "sixth" and "tenth" taxes, 
amounting to twenty-five per cent., which were laid upon the 
property of persons leaving the island. These were especially 

2' B. & D., 1706-10. The instructions are in Dutch and undated. The copy 
in the Danish State Archives was apparently secured by the governor and sent 
with his comment to the directors by the ship on which the commissioners 
sailed. 

" Exir. af Gen. Brev fra St. Th., Punkt n (April 3, 1706), C. B., 1690-1713. 



THE PLANTER AND THE COMPANY 187 

burdensome to those Dutch planters who had come from St. 
Eustatius and other islands during the War of the Augsburg 
League.^^ They proposed instead a four per cent, tax on slaves 
taken out from the colony, as was common on the French and 
English islands. Not only did they ask that the governor and 
privy council should act with six reputable planters in the de- 
cision of local matters, but they suggested that no taxes should 
be laid for local purposes except such as were found necessary 
by the governor, privy council and the "common council." 
They were, in short, demanding representative government, 
and with it that most precious prerogative of freedom-loving 
societies, the power of self-taxation. In concluding their list 
of demands and grievances the planters intimated that too 
heavy taxes might nearly denude the island of its white 
people, who because of the great heat could not work more 
than three or four hours a day.^^ 

It is probable that the planters, in presenting through their 
envoys such a formidable list of demands, deliberately requested 
much in the hope of getting a little. The things asked for con- 
formed neither to the interests of the shareholders as they saw 
them nor to the theories of government then prevailing in the 
absolutist state of Denmark-Norway. It is small wonder that 
the two deputies returned with nothing but a few vague prom- 
ises to show for their trouble. The St. Thomas planters were 
not backward in disclosing their disappointment. In fact, they 
assumed so threatening an attitude that the two delegates, 
Zytsema and Zinck, were obliged to write to the directors ask- 
ing the latter to extend them their protection.^^ The mission 
was apparently by no means barren of result, for in their letter 
of November 3, 1706, the directors granted to St. Thomas in- 
habitants the right to sail with West Indian goods to any place 
in Europe except the Danish dominions. ^^ In return for this 

23 See above, pp. 69, 84, 109. 

24 B. & D., 1706-10. 

26 Ibid. (April 4, 1707); C. B.. 1690-1713 (April 6, 1707). 

26 Cop. og Extr., S. P. for St. Th., 1699-17 U (April 2, 1708); Martfeldt MSS.. 
Vol. VI, 1703-1709 (April 2, 1708). Pending further instructions from the di- 
rectors, Hamburg was also excepted from freedom of trade. 



188 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

privilege the directors tried to induce the planters to assist 
the Company in securing full return cargoes. But the Com- 
pany's policy of forbidding exports while any of its ships were 
in the harbor was never popular among the planters. The 
credit for achieving this wished for result was claimed by Direc- 
tor Jacob Lerke in the letter in which he congratulated Governor 
von Holten on his accession to office.-'' From this letter it ap- 
pears that the "sixth" tax above mentioned was abolished by 
the directors, likewise through Lerke's efforts.^^ The taxes on 
imports and exports fixed by the governor and privy council as 
a result of the directors' orders were as follows: on goods leav- 
ing St. Thomas, six per cent.; on incoming European goods, 
four per cent. ; on incoming West Indian goods, two per cent. ; 
on all provisions from New England, four per cent.^ 

The results of the planters' mission of 1706 were on the whole 
meager enough, yet in 1714-1715, when the planters felt their 
situation again becoming desperate, they proceeded as before 
to send a delegation to Copenhagen. The pressure of hard 
times was already being felt in the West Indies; the home 
country was fully occupied with the Northern War against 
Sweden under Charles XII; in St. Thomas prizes and confis- 
cated cargoes ceased being brought into the harbor. The 
Spaniards on Porto Rico and the larger islands upon whom the 
planters depended for cash were suffering severely, for it had 
been more than two years since the Spanish fleet had visited 
them.^° What cash the planters were able to get hold of went 
for provisions; they were concerned with keeping alive the 
slaves they had, rather than with buying new ones. 

When under these conditions the Company insisted on re- 
taining the hated twenty-five per cent, tax on the property of 
persons leaving the island, feehng among the planters ran high. 
In numerous secret meetings the Company and its St. Thomas 

" B. & D., 1717-20. copy (November 5, 1707). 

^^ The letter mentioned "de gepretendeerde 6% penningjhet wdcke uyt de brief 
kan gesien warden, is opgehoven," which, if the copy be accurate, may possibly 
refer to the sixth "penning" tax. But the tax seems to have remained in force 
nevertheless. 

23 Cop. og Extr., S. P. for St. Th., 1699-171^ (April 2, 1708). 

'« B. & D.. 17U-17 (August 10, 1714). 



THE PLANTER AND THE COMPANY 189 

representatives came in for most severe denunciation. In May 
and July, 1714, leading citizens made a strong plea to the gover- 
nor and council requesting the return of various former priv- 
ileges which they had enjoyed in Governor Lorentz's time and 
before, and they threatened in case of refusal to send their dep- 
uties to Denmark to lay the matter directly before the king.^^ 

This threat was finally carried out when, early in 1715, a com- 
mission of three influential planters, George Carstensen, Jacob 
Magens and John Johnson de Windt, set out for Copenhagen 
to represent the planters at the Danish court.^^ The independent 
spirit shown by the West Indian planters had alarmed the local 
officials, who were quick to scent a conspiracy against the gov- 
ernment. In their report to the directors, the governor and 
council charged one James Smith, son of the erstwhile Branden- 
burg factor Peter Smith,^^ with being the main author of the 
disturbance, the inheritance of a portion of his father's fortune 
having affected his interests. In their desire to expose the 
character of the ringleaders, the local officials alleged that James 
Smith had been treasurer of the Scotch Darien Company,^^ 
and that when its trade had been ruined by the English, he had 
escaped with the treasury's money. ^^ 

The delegates from St. Thomas arrived in Copenhagen in 
the summer of 1715, determined to secure some definite con- 
cessions and not to permit any such failure as had occurred in 
1706. Besides the remission of the twenty-five per cent., and 
the substitution for it of the usual six per cent, tax on all goods 
exported, they petitioned to be permitted to ship out their 
products to whatever port they pleased. They asked, as in 1706, 
that representatives of the planters be consulted by the governor 

'1 B. & D., 17H.-17 (July 11, 1714). Those signing the commimication of 
July 11 were: L. Beverhoudt, Johannes Seits, Jan Jansen de Windt, Daniel 
Jansen, David Bourdeaux, Johannes Cramieuw, Hans Kroyer, Tobias van 
Wondergem and Ja[me]s Smidt (Smith). 

^2 Vest. Reg., 1699-17 J^6 (April 14, 1716). George Carstensen became the 
founder of a distinguished line of Danish nobility, the Castenskjolds. He was a 
nephew of Governor Lorentz. 

3» See above, pp. 113, 115. 

^* See above, p. 119. 

35 B. & D., 17U-17 (August 10, 1714). 



190 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

and council on matters pertaining to the land and its inhabitants. 
They requested permission, on behalf of the members of the 
Reformed or Calvinist faith, for the latter to elect their own 
minister. They asked as had the delegates of 1706 that the 
government take measures to secure satisfaction from Spain 
for slaves escaped to Porto Rico and for ships seized by the 
Spanish, French, and English during the War of the Spanish 
Succession. They requested more efficient assistance from the 
Company in the prevention of runaways and a remission of 
the interest on slaves bought in 1707.^® 

These various desires and grievances were presented in the 
form of memorials or petitions to the directors and to the king. 
The memorial to the former was dated September 2, 1715, 
and to this the directors made reply on October 28 following. ^^ 
King Frederick IV referred the matter for further investiga- 
tion to royal commissions, including the Board of Police and 
Trade. The St. Thomas delegates remained in Copenhagen 
through the winter of 1715-1716 and succeeded in getting 
definite statements from both the Company and the crown on 
all the points in dispute. A commission was appointed by the 
king on April 14, 1716, consisting of privy councilors Christian 
Sehested and Frederick Christian Adeler, supreme court judge 
and councilor in chancery Christian Berregaard, and Jens Kuur, 
a member of the Copenhagen city council.^^ This body really 
acted as arbiter in the dispute between the planters and the 
Company. The king's resolution on each of the disputed points 
was handed down on August 16, 1716. 

The mission of 1715-1716 was certainly productive of result. 
The tax on the property of persons leaving St. Thomas was 
reduced from twenty -five to ten per cent. Trade was thrown 
open to St. Thomas inhabitants on payment of six per cent, 
for outgoing, and five per cent, for incoming goods. On these 
terms the inhabitants of St. Thomas were to be permitted to 
trade with all places except the Danish European lands and 

'" It is not clear just why this was asked for. Manager MS., 119. 
'^ Comj). Prot, 1697-17SJf (October 28, 1715). 

38 Vest. Reg., 1699-17^6 (April 14. 1716). Assessor and Ca?icellie-Raad were 
the Danish names for Berregaard's offices. 



THE PLANTER AND THE COMPANY 191 

Hamburg and Bremen, but were expected to assist the Company 
in securing full cargoes, though at market rates, instead of the 
discount of one-sixth which the directors had held out for. The 
planters' attempt to secure a legal standing as a legislative body 
for their common court failed, although the king ordered that 
their decisions were to be appealed to the directors, thus depriv- 
ing the governor and council of their judicial functions. The 
king approved the directors' proposal to issue a letter of presenta- 
tion (Kaldsbrev) to any suitable Reformed Church minister nomi- 
nated by the St. Thomas congregation. With regard to slave 
refugees in Porto Rico, to runaways on St. Thomas, and to seiz- 
ures made by various nations during the late war, the authori- 
ties joined in promising assistance. The interest on the debt 
due for slaves purchased in 1707 was not remitted, but reduced 
from eight to six per cent. Speedier handling of probate cases 
was promised. ^^ 

This outcome, on the whole favorable to the planters, was 
partly due to the vigorous championship of their interests by a 
committee of the Board of Police and Trade, which the king 
had deputed to report upon the case.^° The whole-hearted 
sympathy which this body showed towards the planters indi- 
cates an intelligent grasp of commercial matters considerably 
in advance of that generally held in Danish administrative 
circles of the early eighteenth century. The planters' victory 
was gained in the face of bitter opposition from Governor 
Michael Crone, who had counselled banishment and fines for 
the leaders if actual revolution was to be averted and the Com- 
pany was to be saved from ruin.^^ In view of Crone's question- 
able dealings with privateers and the care with which he looked 
after his own fortunes, while he neglected the interests of the 

^^ For the king's resolution on each of the matters in dispute, see Martfeldt 
MSS., Vol. VI., " Udtog af en Kongelig Resolution . . ." (August 24, 1716). 
Cf. Manager MS., pp. 120 et seq. 

40 The members were: Niels Slange, Johan Bertram Ernst, Andreas Franck, 
Christian Braem, Morten Munck, Markus Johansen, and Abraham Klbcker. 
Politi og Commerce Collegiets Memorial Bog, vol. 21 (1716-1720), in City Hall 
archives, Copenhagen. See Appendix F, pp. 306-314, for translation of this 
report. 

" Crone to Directors (February 19, 1715). B. & D., 17U-17. 



192 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

Company, it is possible to comprehend why the king's commis- 
sioners disregarded the governor's advice. In fact, two of the 
St. Thomas delegates, George Carstensen and Jacob Magens, 
were appointed by the directors to examine into Governor 
Crone's official stewardship.^^ Crone, happily for himself, died 
before the investigation could be instituted. 

Troubles between planters and those governing them were 
not confined to St. Thomas during the years after the War of the 
Spanish Succession. The class of planter-capitalists which in 
Walpole's time largely dominated English colonial policy seems 
during these years first to have become conscious of its power in 
various West Indian islands. Governor Erik Bredal of St. 
Thomas, in a letter to the directors dated March 13, 1718, 
reported that the Portuguese had exiled their governor to St. 
Thomas, possibly the Portuguese island by that name off the 
Guinea coast of Africa, that the French on Martinique had 
driven off their " general, " and that a similar fate had met the 
Dutch "general" on St. Eustatius. The times were indeed 
"quite fatal" for West Indian governors. Bredal wrote from 
first-hand knowledge, for he himself had had to imprison a 
planter who had proposed sending him to Porto Rico.^^ 

The increased freedom in trade resulted in a short-lived 
" boom " in St. Thomas. Despite the attempts made by French, 
Enghshand Spanish to restrict trade to their own nationalities/* 
and despite numerous seizures by Porto Rico authorities,*^ St. 
Thomas traders were willing to assume risks which the Com- 
pany could not. New England shipyards furnished vessels by 
means of which St. Thomas planters ran the gauntlet of pirates 
and men-of-war, and not infrequently evaded successfully the 
vigilance of the West Indian authorities whose business it was 
to guard the interests of their European masters.*^ On the 

^^Comp. ProL, 1697-1734 (October 25, 1715). Crone had connived with 
Governor Rivera of Porto Rico in carrying on forbidden trade. Cf. Bredal, 
etc., to Directors (November 24, 1716), B. & D., 1717-20. 

^3 B. & D., 1717-20 (March 13, 1718). The planter's name was Pieter Krul. 

^^ lUd. (June 11, 1719). 

^° Ihid. (February 12, 1719). 

^ Ibid. (March 13, 1718). Among others, Lucas Beverhoudt had a vessel 
built in Boston for trade between the West Indies and Holland. 



THE PLANTER AND THE COMPANY 193 

Danish West Indian as on the Dutch and other islands, smug- 
gling early became a fine art, one of the approved ways to wealth 
and affluence and even to titles of nobility. 

The results of this more liberal policy were soon reflected in 
increase of trade, especially with the Dutch and with the English 
colonists on the mainland, who were adepts at wriggling through 
the meshes of eighteenth-century commercial regulations. The 
visiting Dutch traders, always willing to sell their wares on 
credit, were eminently successful among the St. Thomas plant- 
ers. An era of extravagance ensued, which the Company tried 
in vain to combat. Plantation magnates sent their children 
to the northern English colonies or to Europe for their schooling, 
and when they had acquired independent fortunes the plant- 
ers themselves retired to Holland or Denmark to enjoy 
them. 

The conditions under which these distant colonies were 
settled and developed give their fiscal history peculiar interest, 
and likewise complicate it not a little. Besides the duties on 
imports and exports already referred to, the planters had to 
pay certain direct, and a considerable number of indirect, taxes. 
In order to encourage planters to come to St. Thomas and St. 
John, it had been necessary to promise them eight years of 
exemption from poll and land taxes.^^ No one was free from 
militia duty, however, though a number sent proxies. The 
planters preferred serving in the militia to supporting a con- 
siderable body of Danish troops. ^^ Of the latter alternative, 
there was little danger, for the Company had difficulty in keep- 
ing a full complement of men at the fort, and those employed 
were too frequently the riffraff of Copenhagen, who were often 
such inveterate imbibers of kill-devil that they became worse 
than useless. "They are indeed so wretched," wrote Governor 
Bredal in 1716, " that they cannot be trusted any longer at their 
posts; they get so drunk that they fall off the walls where they 
stand on duty, some falling to their death, some so injuring 
themselves that they are unable for a long time to do their work. 
Others desert their posts in the hope of getting a chance to leave 

*^ See above, p. 69, for reference to Governor Adolph Esmit's order. 
^^ See above, p. 101, for Thormohlen's experience with the planters. 



194 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

the place. . . ." ^^ Few soldiers ever lived to return to Denmark, 
and very few became landowners, though a number became 
managers of plantations. 

So long as the planters were compelled to ship their products 
to Europe in the Company's vessels, an excessive freight rate 
became itself a species of tax. A form of taxation most heartily 
detested by the colonists, however, was the sort that was levied 
through underpaying the planters for their products. It was 
to evade such taxes that the latter fought persistently for 
greater freedom of trade than was being allowed them, and for 
a place in the local law-making body. The one tax that gave 
the planter least reason for just complaint because of any 
measurable inequaUty in its incidence, was the poll and land 
tax.^" The slaves represented the planters' chief investment, 
and the ability of the owners to pay could generally be cal- 
culated with reasonable accuracy by the number of slaves in 
their possession. 

The colonists were naturally concerned chiefly in securing 
the best price possible for their sugar, cotton, indigo, tobacco, 
and other products. The highest prices were generally to be 
obtained from Dutch or English interlopers; hence in order 
to insure cargoes for the Company's ships, the privy council 
would sometimes proceed to raise to the necessary level the 
duties on goods exported. Planters who were in the Company's 
debt were usually obliged to offer their produce to the Company 
before trying to sell it to any outside buyer, but well-to-do 
planters did not fear at times to refuse to sell the Company any 
sugar whatever.^^ Under such circumstances, the local offic- 
ials were occasionally forced to borrow from a visiting skipper 
the sugar required to make up a cargo.^^ The directors had 
insisted from the first on the prior right to buy all plantation 
products,^^ but they were forced as time went on to relax that 
end of their monopoly little by little. Finally in 1724 the Com- 

« B. & D., 17U-17 (April 29, 1716). 

60 See above, p. 196. 

" S. P. for St. Th. (July 9, 1714). 

62 B. & D., 17U-17 (August 10, 1714). 

w Martfeldt MSS., Vol. VI, 170S-1709 (AprU 2, 1708). 



THE PLANTER AND THE COMPANY 195 

pany gave up its monopoly of all trade at St. Thomas except 
that in slaves, permitting the ships of all nations to buy and 
sell there on payment of the six per cent, export and five per 
cent, import tax fixed in the royal edict of August 24, 1716.^* 
This appears to mark the beginning of St. Thomas as a free port. 

After the acquisition of St. Croix, the question of how the 
sugar and cotton prices should be fixed became one of prime 
political importance in the Danish islands. Before 1735 the 
planters tried to secure current prices for their products by un- 
ojBBcial means, since they had no recognized legislative powers. 

As a source of income the Company's magazine at St. Thomas 
played some part. It was impossible to retain the monopoly 
of the retail trade so long as Danish ships could not furnish 
the island with all its needed supplies and provisions. Planta- 
tion implements came in large part from English and French 
sources, and provisions chiefly from New England and New 
York. During the Spanish Succession war, when numerous 
prizes and prize cargoes were brought to St. Thomas for sale, 
the Company lost a good deal of its retail trade to those local 
planter-merchants who were willing to undertake war risks. 
By 1725 it had given up almost all of this trade except its 
traffic in slaves. 

It was the duty of the local factor to keep the officials in 
Copenhagen informed concerning the goods likely to be in de- 
mand in the West Indies. A list of articles found enumerated 
in the Company's books for 1717 will give an idea of the con- 
tents of its magazine. Among the provisions on hand were 
salt beef, pork, maize, sweet potatoes, palm oil, cassava, pepper, 
spices, cacao, tea, bread, flour, butter, sweetmeats, wine, vine- 
gar, beer (Lybsk 01) kill-devil, and spirits (aquavita). There 
were also to be found pitch, rope, sailcloth, and thread for the 
use of ships in the harbor; shingles, lumber, brick, tile-stones 
and nails for building houses, and tallow for lighting them. For 
the planter's wife and daughter the factor had in stock laces, 
linens and cotton prints. To the planter himself, who rode 
on his daily inspection tour, the magazine offered a saddle.^^ 

" See above, p. 152. Ibid., 17S3-1731 (October 21, 1724). 
^^N. J.for St. Th. for 1717. 



196 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

Closely associated with the Company's fiscal policy, but less 
firmly under its control, was the matter of money. Part of the 
metal dug out of Spanish mines in America was diverted by 
Dutch and other interlopers into the channels of West Indian 
and European trade. Spanish merchants gladly parted with 
hard Spanish pieces-of -eight for negroes or provisions; their 
own skippers could not keep pace with the supply, and Span- 
ish planters were willing to pay good prices for those com- 
modities. The greater number of the coins that were in cir- 
culation in the West Indies in the seventeenth and eighteenth 
centuries bore on their face the titles of the king of Spain. 
Spanish milled dollars circulated freely in the trade of Boston, 
New York and Philadelphia with the West Indies long after 
the English colonies had gained their independence. 

Within each of the different groups of colonies, the money of 
the home state was supposed to circulate. Hence various kinds 
of coin crept into general use, to the confusion of commerce 
and the joy of the professional money-changer. 

St. Thomas suffered its most severe financial disturbance 
during the years of universal money stringency following the 
Peace of Utrecht. As early as 1715, the planters on St. Thomas 
were unable to pay their export and import dues in coin.^^ Two 
years later, shortly after the Company's treasurer, Christian 
Seeberg, had been accused of wholesale peculations by Governor 
Bredal, the latter reported that there was no money left on St. 
Thomas. "There is no trade with the Spaniards," he wrote, 
"and the English have secured the little money that is left, so 
that the land is poorer than it has ever been. People who are 
rated as capitalists do not have enough money for the daily ex- 
penses *of their households. In order to pay our militia and 
others of our servants, our only resource lies in doing as is being 
done in Carolina and Canada: namely, to make use of paper 
bills with the Company's seal in place of money. ..." 

The only other alternative, as the governor intimated in the 
same letter, would have been barter in sugar and cotton, hardly 
convenient substitutes for small change. To make legal seiz- 
ures for debts owed by planters, would merely have brought the 
^ 5. A D., niJf-17 (July 23, 1715). 



THE PLANTER AND THE COMPANY 197 

Company slaves and furniture, which could not have been used 
in paying the Company's employees.^'^ 

The crisis was thus tided over by paper money issues, but 
not without inconvenience and loss. In 1722 Governor Bredal 
issued an order requiring possessors of "false paper bills" to 
present them for signing within fourteen days, on pain of con- 
fiscation.^^ In 1724, in the seventh year of their use. Governor 
Frederick Moth and his council took measures for the with- 
drawal and confiscation of the old notes, which were scarcely 
recognizable any longer, and proceeded to the issue of new ones 
that were less easily raised. ^^ The governor and council de- 
cided to issue 2,000 bills of each of the following denominations : 
one, two, four, and eight reals .^° Counting eight reals to each 
piece-of -eight brings the sum thus issued to 3,750 pieces-of- 
eight, which was equivalent to the same number of rixdoUars. 

Two years later a new issue worth 1,000 rdl. more replaced 
the above,^^ but the planters began to demand twenty-five per 
cent, higher prices for their produce when paid in paper money. 
This caused the local officials to take measures for the redemp- 
tion of the bills by accepting them at their face value in pay- 
ment of debts to the Company. On March 21, 1727, Philip 
Gardelin, the factor at St. Thomas, requested the retirement 
and destruction of the paper money. His suggestion was ac- 
cepted, and after a decade of experience the Company went 
back to a hard money footing.^^ The financial stringency that 
had prompted the experiment had disappeared. The Company 
had avoided the disaster that befell the French and English 
companies of this period by refraining from issuing more paper 
money than it was able to absorb in the course of its business. 

Far more permanent as a medium of exchange were the so- 

57 Bredal to Directors (September 27. 1717). B. & D., 1717-20. 

ss MartfeUt MSS., Vol. I, 1684-1744 (July 27, 1722). 

69 S. P. far St. Th. (May 11, October 12, 1724); Martfeldt MSS., Vol. VI, 
1723-1739 (October 12. 1724). 

«« S. P. for St. Th. (October 12, 1724). 

«i Ibid. (July 30. 1726). 

^2 Ibid. (March 21, 1727). The half-tone engravings of Danish and colonial 
coins planned for this volume have had to be omitted, as the Danish museum 
coin collections have been stored away until the close of the war. 



198 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

called "Seeberg dollars." The silver ware and plate of the de- 
faulting treasurer had been cut into convenient sizes and 
stamped, and some of the money thus created continued in 
circulation after the Danish West India and Guinea Company 
had passed out of existence. 

In spite of wars and panics, the Company had during the 
first third of the new century not only held St. Thomas, but had 
acquired and settled St. John. It had seen the rise of a class of 
capitalist planters, and had at the same time been able to pay 
its shareholders a twelve per cent, dividend in 1714 and salaries 
to the directors and chief participants for their service from 
1696 on.^^ In 1721 it had been able to pay an eight per cent, 
dividend, but no "Solarium proportionaliter." No further div- 
idends were declared until 1734, when the purchase of St. 
Croix made other arrangements necessary. 

With two little islands in its possession but both gradually 
decreasing in fertility, with a restless planter population which 
insisted most strenuously upon its rights, and with a trade that 
could scarcely supply more than one or two ships a year with 
cargoes, it became evident to live Danish business men that a 
fresh start of some sort would soon have to be made to prevent 
utter stagnation. The opportunity came when French interest 
in the affair of the Polish Succession suggested to French states- 
men that Danish neutrality and Danish money might be se- 
cured by offering to Denmark-Norway the all but abandoned 
island of St. Croix. The acquisition of this fertile island marks 
the beginning of a new era in Danish West Indian history, which 
it will be the purpose of the succeeding chapters to describe. 
8^ Manager MS., 117. 



CHAPTER X 

THE ACQUISITION OP ST. CROIX 

The acquisition by Denmark of the island of St. Croix in 
1733 may properly be viewed in the nature of a windfall. This 
small but precious tropical fruit fell into Denmark's lap during 
one of those capricious diplomatic storms which shook the 
chanceries of Europe from 1723 to 1733. During this decade 
an intriguing and ambitious Italian woman, Elizabeth Farnese, 
seated on the throne of Spain as the consort of the incompetent 
Philip V, "was the pivot upon which the diplomacy of Europe 
turned." Failing in her efforts to bring about a marriage 
alliance between France and Spain, Elizabeth through her 
minister, the Dutch adventurer, Ripperda, managed to effect 
an alliance with Austria in 1725 by which among other things 
Spain was to secure the restoration of Gibraltar and Minorca, 
and Austria was to receive Spanish support for her Ostend 
East India Company. This reversal of alliances, which brought 
together two of the chief opponents of the Spanish Succession 
war, threatened the revival of the empire of Charles the Fifth. 
By way of restoring the "balance of power" and averting the 
dangerous consequences of such a combination, the represent- 
atives of France, England, and Prussia met at Herrenhausen 
where later in the same year they formed what became known 
as the League of Hanover. They were subsequently joined by 
Sweden, Denmark, and the United Provinces. 

It was the marriage of the young and weakly Louis XV to 
Maria Leszczynska, the daughter of Stanislas Leszczynski, 
ex-king of Poland, that had definitely terminated Elizabeth's 
schemes for a French-Spanish alliance. The inopportune death 
of Augustus II of Poland on February 1, 1733, left France as the 
chief champion of the rights of Stanislas to the Polish throne. 
The question of the aged, peace-loving Cardinal Fleury, "Must 
we ruin the king to aid his father-in-law? " was ignored. France 

[199] 



goo THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

consequently found herself in the difficult position of guarantor 
of a royal candidate who was opposed by the arms of Russia 
and Saxony, both of which states were actively backing the 
Saxon candidate, Augustus. 

Since Austria supported Russia and Saxony, Cardinal Fleury 
expected Sweden to attack her inveterate enemy, Russia, while 
he looked for Denmark, which controlled the entrance to the 
Baltic, at least to remain neutral. This would permit the French 
fleet to enter the Baltic and thus come to the aid of Stanislas. 

The negotiations of France with Denmark were carried on by 
Count Plelo,^ who had been sent to Copenhagen in 1728, where 
he had become very popular because of his knowledge of Danish 
history and his acquaintance with northern literary and scien- 
tific men.^ Plelo's task was not an easy one, for only eight 
months before the death of the Polish king Denmark had con- 
cluded a treaty of friendship and alliance with Russia and 
Austria at Copenhagen, with a view towards securing a favor- 
able settlement of the vexing questions concerning Denmark's 
relations with the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. 

Under these conditions, the Danish court was obliged to move 
with circumspection. Austria must not be offended, for Holstein 
was within the Empire; France must not be turned away en- 
tirely, for there was no telling when French support might be- 
come very desirable for Denmark. The Danish king. Chris- 
tian VI, managed to draw out the negotiations until March 27, 
1734, when he definitely refused the French offer of alliance; ^ 
but meantime the island of St. Croix had been purchased from 
France for the Danish West India and Guinea Company. This 
enabled France to secure needed funds for carrying on her war 
in Poland, and the Danish company to gain a new and fertile 
island. 

The ten or twelve years following the collapse of the Missis- 
sippi and South Sea companies were years when money went 

* Louis Robert Hypolite de Brehan, Comte de Plelo. 

^ It was during P161o's stay in Copenhagen that Ludwig (Louis) Holberg, 
Denmark-Norway's great dramatist and historian, was laying the foundations 
of a national drama in the Danish capital. 

* For conditions preceding the purchase of St. Croix, see L. Koch, Christian 
den Sjettes Histone (Kjobenhavn, 1886), pp. 257 ei seq. 







>- T^ — . >^ 















'- • I- >/' 



i' 



THE ACQUISITION OP ST. CROIX 201 

into hiding and was exceedingly difficult to coax out. A time 
when it was common to resort to paper money to carry on the 
minimum of necessary trade was not favorable to the prosperity 
of commercial companies. Under the successors of Governor 
Bredal,^ the Danish West India and Guinea Company, unable 
to pursue an aggressive commercial policy, gradually relin- 
quished its monopoly in favor of private traders and proceeded 
to collect as many as possible of its outstanding debts. Even 
in the slave trade, its one remaining source of profit, headway 
was very difficult. A number of poor crops, due to drought and 
other causes, left the planters with little surplus to invest in 
slaves. 

The East India Company too was practically at a standstill. 
Its low estate was ascribed mainly to the Northern War and 
to the plague in Copenhagen in 1711. In the course of an in- 
vestigation Frederick IV sent a letter under date of November 9, 
1726, to the investigating commission asking them to report 
upon the advisability of uniting the two India companies.^ 
The commission was dissolved in 1728 without having achieved 
any tangible result.® 

When Christian VI came to the throne in 1730, the prospects 
for the India companies began to improve. As crown prince. 
Christian had already shown a live interest in these ventures. 
In the East India Company he hadiheld the presidency and on 
April 12, 1732, within two years after his accession, that com- 
pany was reorganized as "The Royal Chartered East Indian 
or Asiatic Company." ^ The West India Company's opportu- 
nity for rehabilitation came when the directors saw the chance 
to buy the island of St. Croix from France. 

In 1732, at the time that Plelo's negotiations with the Danish 

* Commander Otto J. Thambsen was governor for a few months in 1724; 
Captain Frederick Moth, until 1727; and Henry Suhm, until 1733, when Philip 
Gardelin became governor (February 21). 

^The committee consisted of August Friderich von John and Daniel Ben- 
jamin Weyse, with Andreas Hoyer as secretary. Hist. Saml. og Studier . . . 
H. Rordam, ed. (Kjobenhavn, 1878), 4 B. HI, pp. 144 et seq. 

^ E. Holm, Danmark-Norges Histarie i Frederick IV's sidste ti Regeringsaar, 
pp. 439 et seq. 

'' Kay Larsen, De dansk-ostindiske Koloniers Historie, 1, 73. 



202 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

court were under way, the directorate of the West India Com- 
pany consisted of Ferdinand Anthon (Count of Laurwigen), 
councilors of state Severin Junge and Christian Berregaard, 
Hans J. Soelberg, and Gregorius Klauman. The chief partic- 
ipants were Frederick Seckman and the mayor of Copenhagen, 
Frederick Holmsted.^ When the president, Laurwigen, pre- 
sented his resignation to the shareholders on September 12, 

1732, the latter immediately began the search for another 
"high minister" and instructed councilor of justice Frederick 
L. Dose to sound "his High Excellency," privy councilor 
Charles Adolph von Plessen in the matter.^ From September 
until the following April (1733), von Plessen kept his own 
counsel, but he set to work informing himself on the state of 
the Company and the possibilities for its improvement. 

Von Plessen had conferred with Holmsted during the interval 
and had found that the Company was scarcely able to pay 
interest on its debts, and the stockholders still less able to secure 
returns on the capital invested. He had "studied such pro- 
posals, ways, and means as could be suggested, not only to 
assist, rescue, and support the Company, but also [such as 
would help] to place it on a sounder basis." ^^ 

Commerce to and from the West Indies, "especially in these 
times of general peace" was indeed according to Holmsted's 
admission entirely demoralized; St. Thomas bought its goods 
direct from other lands, while the Company was forced to pay 
the planters 4}^ '^dl. per hundred pounds for their sugar, and 
from eleven to thirteen shillings a pound for their cotton, higher 
prices than the planters themselves could secure in Europe, 
especially for the sugar. 

These observations, which von Plessen and the directors 
communicated to the shareholders at their meeting on May 8, 

1733, led his High Excellency to the conclusion "that the lands 
of the Company are too small and its inhabitants too few and 
that the colonial administration is on too limited a scale and has 
not from the beginning been established upon a sufficiently 

' Manager MS., pp. 132 et seq. 

9 Comp. ProL. 1697-173/f (September 12, 1732). 

1" Ibid.. (May 8, 1734). 



THE ACQUISITION OF ST. CROIX 203 

well-ordered footing or upon a plan properly suited to carry on 
commerce successfully with these lands." The only way out 
that appeared to von Plessen lay in the possibility of the Com- 
pany's securing the neighboring island of St. Croix, which was 
at the time in the possession of France. 

The suggestion thus skillfully presented by a man so distin- 
guished in rank and prestige must have taken the assembled 
stockholders by surprise, for they had received no dividends 
since 1721, and many of them had in fact advanced to the Com- 
pany in 1723 loans amounting to thirty per cent, of their stock, 
and received in return the Company's notes yielding six per 
cent, interest.^^ The sort of confidence instilled into the minds 
of the Company's "general court" as they listened to the 
courageous proposals of a high official who was willing to stake 
his reputation upon the success of his scheme, must have been 
comparable to that produced in a meeting of the board of di- 
rectors of a run-down railway in these days when a Hill or a 
Morgan offers to pull them out of the slough. 

When von Plessen appeared before the stockholders in May, 
1733, the entire plan as he presented it was known only to the 
king, who had given it his approval, to Holmsted and himself 
and to "a couple of confidential friends whom Mr. Holmsted 
had employed," and of course to Count Plelo. Although se- 
crecy was still enjoined, he was able to announce that Holmsted 
had brought the negotiations to the point where the island 
could be secured for 164,000 "French crowns" (ecus?). This 
included the advantage of an "alliance or treaty" with France, 
providing for "mutual obligation and neutrality in all cases, 
perpetual friendship in America regardless of the situation in 
Europe, and mutual defense and succor if need be against all 
who might attempt to disturb the American establishments, 
colonies, and commerce of these nations. . . ." Whether or 
not a treaty of alliance actually was contemplated in these 
preliminary negotiations is not entirely clear from the minutes 
of the Company. 

It was assumed by those who had begun the negotiations 
that the island was well worth buying. Von Plessen estimated 
" Comp. Prot., 1697-1734 (May 8, 1734) ^9. 



204 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

that the island when surveyed would be found to contain not 
fewer than 800 large plantations besides many smaller ones; 
that it would yield cacao, indigo, and coffee, as well as sugar 
and cotton; and that the land was of such a high quality that the 
plantations would be worth from 500 to 1,000 rdl. from the 
beginning. He expressed the belief that there would be no lack 
of purchasers, and that the 164,000 rdl. needed would come 
back within a few years. 

Granted that the shareholders were willmg to concede the 
value of the island, the questions of next greatest importance 
were those which dealt with the readjustment of the Company's 
internal affairs on the basis of the new conditions. How were 
the shares in the new investment to be distributed? What 
special privileges should purchasers of the new shares enjoy? 
How should the Company provide for the payment of the pur- 
chase price? To what extent should trade be free and on what 
branches of commerce should the Company hold the monopoly? 
At what price should the old shares be estimated and how should 
holders of shares in the recently established refinery be treated? 

All of these questions were suggested by von Plessen at the 
general assembly held on May 8, and he sketched out tentative 
answers, but the shareholders were not ready as yet to express 
their opinions on every one of them. They did however vote 
in favor of the purchase, and made arrangements for securing 
voluntary subscriptions to stock, the preference to be given to 
holders of the old shares. 

On May 13 the various groups met once more in general as- 
sembly. During the five-day interval, a committee of share- 
holders ^^ had discussed the mooted points with the directors ^^ 
and the chief participants,^^ and the following resolutions were 
presented, and received the approval of the assembly when it 
met on May 15. (1) The Company's old shares, about eighty- 
four in number, with a par value of 1,000 rdl. each, were to be 

1- " Councilors of Conference" Lars Benzon and Christian Berregaard, and 
Councilors of State Phillip Julius Bornemann and Thomas Bartholin. 

'^ Councilor of Conference Severin Junge, Hans Jorgen Soelberg, and Grego- 
rius Klauman. 

" "Chancery director" Frederick Sechman and Frederick Hohnsted. 



THE ACQUISITION OF ST. CROIX 205 

reduced to 500 rdl. a share, by way of encouraging the buyers 
of shares in the Company and the refinery; (2) the value of the 
shares in the sugar refinery was to be raised from 600 to 1,000 
rdl. each, and persons investing for the first time were to have 
the right to buy them; (3) after June 11 the above shares were 
to be combined into single shares on the basis already resolved 
upon, and the profits from Company and refinery put into the 
common treasury; (4) the possessor of each old share was to 
advance 2,000 rdl. towards the purchase of the island, and to 
receive in return two plantations on St. Croix, each of them 
3,000 feet long and 2,000 feet wide; (5) the 2,000 rdl. was to 
constitute part of each full share and be combined with the 
1,000 rdl. in refinery, and 500 rdl. in Company, shares; (6) it 
was agreed that the stockholders should have the opportunity 
If they desired it of selling the plantations assigned to them 
before the Company began disposing of its plantations; (7) 
those failing to fall in line were given the chance to dispose of 
their refinery and Company shares within eight days on pain 
of confiscation; (8) the outstanding debts were not to be inter- 
fered with; (9) the dividends on the sugar refinery and the old 
shares were fixed at seven per cent, beginning with June 11, 
1733, but from the 2,000 rdl. investment, each was to receive 
such returns as the tide of fortune might bring him; and finally 
(10) after the shares should all have been paid up, the Company 
pledged itself not to force any shareholder to advance money 
to the Company against his will.^^ 

Thus was the Danish West India and Guinea Company once 
more reorganized to meet the demands of a new time. Many 
things had happened since Governor Lorentz urged the directors 
to take up the activities laid down by Thormohlen and Arff, 
and counseled them to push with vigor the promising Guinea 
trade. While the reorganization of 1697 was made chiefly with 
a view towards the slave-trade, that of 1733-1734 looked rather 
in the direction of plantation development and of the monopoly 
in the business of refining and distributing sugar In Denmark- 
Norway. 

15 Comp. Prot, 1697-1731t (May 13, 1733). Manager MS. (pp. 140 et seq.) 
follows the minutes of the Company almost literally here. 



206 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

The treaty with France, which was concluded at Copenhagen 
by Plelo and Holmsted June 15, 1733, and ratified by Louis 
XV just thirteen days later, provided for the purchase of St. 
Croix from the French by the Company but said nothing of any 
alliance with France/® It arranged for the payment of 750,000 
livres ^^ in French coin, half to be paid in cash on the exchange 
of ratifications and the remainder in eighteen months. 

In their general assembly of August 8, the shareholders were 
oflBcially notified by the directors of the consummation of the 
treaty, and they accepted the directors' plans for raising the 
money. The time that was to be allowed to the holders of the 
old shares to participate in the new plan was extended, so that 
those within the city were allowed another fortnight, and those 
in the provinces, six weeks, to pay up the required sum. Holders 
of old shares were to be given six months' time before they were 
to be required to give a final answer to the notification of the 
directors. Meantime the king, through privy councilor and 
director of finances Christian Louis von Plessen (brother of 
Charles Adolph), had offered to loan the Company such sums 
as might be necessary to complete the payments to France. ^^ 

The plans of the directors for taking over St. Croix from the 
French "general " at Martinique, for having the island surveyed 
and laid out into "quarters" and plantations, and for giving 
four instead of two plantations to those investing 2,000 rdl., 
were presented to the assembled shareholders, and accepted by 
them in their meeting of September 26, 1733.^^ 

By way of assuring the reorganized Company a market for 
its West Indian cargoes, the king had issued an order on July 4, 
1733, providing that private refineries should be required there- 
after to buy their raw sugar from the Danish islands as long as 
that source of supply held out.-° This move in the Company's 

^^ For full text of treaty and pleinpouvoirs, see Host, 98 et seq. 
" This amounted in Danish coin to 141,926 rdl., 52 si., according to Comp. 
Prof... 1697-17Slf (September 26, 1733). 

18 Comp. Prof., 1697-173J, (August 8, 1733). 

19 Ibid. (September 26, 1733); Mariager MS., p. 145. 

^° No one refinery was to be allowed to lower the price of sugar without con- 
sulting the others. This was evidently intended to protect the Company's 
refinery established in 1728. 



THE ACQUISITION OF ST. CROIX 207 

favor was followed on December 11 by royal permission to 
arrange for the purchase of either or both of the two privately 
owned refineries in Copenhagen,^^ and for their incorporation 
into the Company. Within four years the Company's monopoly 
of the refining business was practically complete, subject only 
to restrictions imposed by the king in the public interest. The 
quality of the sugar was to be maintained at as high a standard 
as hitherto, its price was to remain at a reasonable ratio with 
the current price of raw sugar, and the Company was to be al- 
lowed to put up a brandy and liquor distillery in which syrup 
and sugar, and not grain, were to be used.^^ 

When the Company was ready to take actual possession of 
St. Croix, the capital it had at its disposal was as follows : 

733^ old (reduced) shares @ 500 rdl 36,750 rdl. 

m}4 sugar refinery shares @1,000 " 117,500 " 

147 St. Croix shares @ 500 " 73,500 " 2^ 

The available capital, which amounted to a total of 227,750 
rdl., represented nearly three times the amount invested in the 
Company before its reorganization was begun. The enthusiasm 
and practical business sense of Frederick Holmsted and Charles 
Adolph von Plessen had overcome the apathy of a considerable 
part of the investing public. They had seen to it that the 
Company's interests in Denmark were properly safeguarded 
and coordinated with its interests in the West Indies. 

It is proper at this time to turn to the West Indies and to the 
circumstances connected with the occupation of St. Croix itself. 
While these weighty matters were being considered in Copen- 
hagen, St. John, which had been settled only about fifteen years 
before,^* was about to become the scene of the terrible slave in- 
surrection, the course of which has already been pointed out.^^ 
For six awful months, while the directors were laboring to in- 
duce shy investors to place their funds in West India Company 

^^ These were owned by the Weyse and Pelt families. 

22 Manager MS., pp. 147 et seq. 

" Ibid,, 150. 

2* See above, p. 128. 

« Chapter VIII. 



208 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

stock, the planters of St. Thomas and St. John were struggling 
for their very existence. The part played by the French from 
Martinique, who learned of the sale of St. Croix before the 
Danes on St. Thomas received the information, and how they 
helped to put down the rebellion, have hkewise been discussed 
in the preceding pages. 

St. Croix had already had an eventful history. According to 
Bryan Edwards, the English historian of the West Indies, 
Dutch and English settlers occupied it in 1625.^^ They appear 
to have been joined there by some French refugees from St. 
Christopher (St. Kitts). A civil war between the factions re- 
sulted in the expulsion of the Dutch and the French shortly 
before 1650. In August of that year, a Spanish expedition from 
Porto Rico drove off the English. ^^ The Spaniards had hardly 
established themselves there before de Poincy, the lieutenant- 
general of all the French islands in America, sent a force of 
about one hundred and sixty-six men from St. Christopher's 
to oust the Spaniards. The effort succeeded, and the settlement 
of St. Croix by the French was begun by a group of three hun- 
dred colonists who were sent thither the following year.^^ 

From 1651 to 1664, when the French West India Company 
was established under the initiative of Colbert, St. Croix was 
under the proprietorship of the Knights of Malta, who, how- 
ever, ruled it in the name of Louis XIV. In 1695, while Louis 
was defending himself against the English and the Dutch and 
their allies of the Augsburg League, the entire colony was 
moved to San Domingo.^ From that date until the Danish pur- 
chase, it is referred to in maps and texts as an abandoned island. 

The /Company's servants on St. Thomas had for some time 
cast longing glances towards St. Croix, whose deserted hill- 
sides they could see faintly on the horizon from the slopes that 
rose to the northward from St. Thomas bay. In 1725, Governor 
Moth, in a letter to the directors, mentioned having heard a 

-^ History of the British West Indies, I, 184. 

^'' Du Tertre, Uistoire des Antilles, I, 448 (quoted in J. Knox, op. cit., 27). 
28 Du Tertre, 1, 409-413, II, 32, 33, 37 (quoted in Mims, Colbert's West India 
Policy, 44). 

-' Keller, Colonization, 498; J. Knox, op. cit., 39. 



THE ACQUISITION OF ST. CROIX 209 

report that the English intended shortly to occupy the island.^" 
In the following year, Moth wrote that "Ste. Criids [St. Croix] 
still lies uninhabited. If said island belonged to the Danes, or 
could be secured by them, the Company would in time become 
powerful, and I assure [you] that there would be no dearth of 
inhabitants as soon as permission for its settlement should be 
granted. 

"I have heard that some distinguished gentlemen in Denmark 
have oflfered 100,000 rdl. for it, which sum it is easily worth, but 
I take the liberty to explain to the gentlemen [the directors] 
that in case Ste. Criids fell into the hands of private persons 
and was granted freedom [of trade] by the king, then St. Thomas 
and St. John would be ruined within three years; but on the 
other hand, if the Company could receive it, both lands [St. 
Thomas ^^ and St. Croix] would be the gainers." ^^ 

This zealous servant of the Company lived to see his hopes 
realized, — he became, in fact, the first chief instrument for 
their realization, when the directors in their instructions dated 
November 16, 1733, named Frederick Moth as the first governor 




of St. Croix. The Company's ship Unity which bore these in- 
structions and other orders, did not arrive at St. Thomas until 
June 11, 1734, almost an entire year after the conclusion of 
the treaty. She had been obliged to put in for repairs at a Nor- 
way port on her outward journey, which she had begun on 
December 3, 1733.^^ 

No sooner had Captain Moth received his commission than he 

30 B. & D., 17U-27 (July 7, 1725). 

3^ St. Thomas and St. John were always considered as a unit for administra- 
tive purposes. 

22 Ibid. (March 6, 1726). 

'* Manager MS., pp. 156 et seq. 



210 THE DANISH WEST INDIES I 

commenced preparations for taking over St. Croix. The negro I, 
rebellion on St. John had recently been brought under control i 
through the cheerfully rendered assistance of the French; and i 
to many planters who had suffered in consequence of the in- 
surrection, this new island offered the prospect of recouping 
their lost fortunes. A bark was presently sent off to Martinique 
to deliver to the general and intendant there a copy of the 
orders of Louis XV.^* Because of the danger from hurricanes 
during the summer months, the French authorities suggested 
postponing the formal transfer until winter, but expressed their 
willingness to let the Danes begin actual occupation at once. 
On August 31 the Lutheran and Reformed ministers held 
services in their respective churches for the benefit of the 
pioneer band that was to leave on the following day. On the 
two barks and two smaller craft which sailed to St. Croix on 
this responsible mission, there were, besides Captain Moth and 
his party (which included several negroes loaned by St. Thomas 
planters), a number of men sent out on the Unity by Charles 
Adolph von Plessen to begin immediately the cultivation of the 
plantations allotted to that influential statesman. Thus did 
his High Excellency show his faith in the Company's future by 
his own good works. 

On September 5, the httle band had finished clearing a place 
near the Basin on the northern side of the island for the fort, 
which was to be called "Christianswsern," ^^ and on the following 
day, when the cannon had been placed there, the minister who 
had accompanied the party preached a sermon, the royal flag 
was planted, and the king's commission to the new governor was 
solemnly read as the cannon fired a salute.^^ 

Four months later, after the French officials from Martinique 
had arrived, occurred the formal transfer from France to Den- 
mark. Captain Bonnoust ^^ and his party arrived in the harbor 
> 3* Manager MS., 157; Gardelin MSS. (June 23, 1734). The bark, which 
sailed about June 23 was in charge of skipper Patrick Laughlin, and the busi- 
ness in the hands of a "Mr. Vass," perhaps Emanuel Vass, a Jew, the only 
person of that name given in the St. Thomas census for 1733. 

'^ Weern = defense. 

^' Manager MS., 158. 

^' " Pierre Elaude Frangois Anthoine Preinley, Herre af Bonnoust." Host, 125. 



THE ACQUISITION OF ST. CROIX 211 

of the Basin of St. Croix on the morning of January 8. They 
saluted the Danish flag, which had been planted on the point 
of land near the fort, with nine guns, which the Danes answered 
shot for shot. On the tenth, after Bonnoust had come ashore 
with a lieutenant of marine ^^ and a notary public, the oflScial 
ceremonies took place. A French inhabitant of St. Thomas, one 
Pierre Joseph Pannet,^^ acted as interpreter. About forty St. 
Croix inhabitants were designated by Moth to append their 
signatures to the acts of possession that were drawn up.*® 
After exchange of full powers and the declaration of Governor 
Moth that no French inhabitants were settled upon the island. 
Captain Bonnoust, by virtue of the authority vested in him by 
the Marquis de Champigny ,*^ governor and lieutenant-general of 
the French Windward Islands, placed Frederick Moth, as the 
legally designated governor, in full possession of the island in 
accordance with the terms of the treaty concluded at Copen- 
hagen on June 15, 1733. 

By way of symbolizing the authority thus officially conferred 
upon him, Governor Moth had his soldiers march to the fort 
under arms, and fire nine cannon shots as the Danish flag waved 
overhead. He then extinguished a lighted candle, fire was 
again lighted, plants and herbs were pulled out of the ground, 
branches were broken from the trees, the water in the brook was 
tasted, stones were thrown, — all the acts were performed which 
were needed to indicate that free, full, and perpetual possession 
of the island had been taken in the name of the Danish West 

India and Guinea Company under the authority of the Danish 
king.42 

Von Plessen and Holmsted had reason to feel proud of their 

'8 Marie Barth^lemy Benard. Host, 126. 

^ Or Panel; the author of the Relation of the St. John insurrection of 1733. 
See above, p. 169, (n. 37). 

^ Among the persons acting with Moth in various official capacities were 
Diderich von Ottingen, lieutenant on St. Croix, secretary Lorentz Nissan, 
surgeon Cornelius Bodger, and militia captain William Chalville. Manager 
MS.. 159. 

*^ " Herre Jacques Charles Brochard, Ridder, Herre til Champignee, Nauvare, 
Poincy, Marquis de Ste. Marie." Host, 124. 

^2 Manager MS., 158; Host, 124 et seq. 



212 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

work. Louis XV expended all that St. Croix had brought him, 
and more, in a futile attempt to aid his father-in-law. Den- 
mark, on the other hand, thanks to the devoted labors of the 
above two men, received the title to a fertile island, which has 
« remained in her possession almost without interruption to the 
present day. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE COMPANY UNDER THE NEW CHARTER 

With the acquisition of St. Croix, the Danish West India and 
Guinea Company looked forward to a revival in its business 
affairs. The prestige and enthusiasm of von Plessen and Holm- 
sted did much to raise the hopes of the shareholders, but several 
years were likely to elapse before the new colony could be ex- 
pected to yield an appreciable return. Not only was the ex- 
pense of the St. John slave uprising to be met, but measures had 
to be taken to prevent the recurrence of such a catastrophe. 
St. Croix had to be surveyed and a supply of new settlers se- 
cured. 

The purchase of the new island, and the privileges giving the 
Company the right to establish a sugar refinery and distillery, 
prompted Christian VI to grant the reorganized company a new 
charter on February 5, 1734, to take the place of the provisional 
charter of two years before.^ Besides retaining the three West 
Indian islands, the Company was given all rights to "Crab and 
other American and African islands." ^ If it so desired, it was 
to continue in possession of Christiansborg in Guinea, on pay- 
ment of the usual dues "to the king of Aquambu and the 
Cabusiers of Orsa." The private sugar refiners of Copenhagen 
were forbidden to buy foreign sugars, and were either to agree 
with the Company as to the price or pay the current rate 
brought by St. Thomas sugar in the Amsterdam market, plus 
the cost of forwarding it to Denmark. Only in case of a shortage 
were the refineries to be permitted to import sugar, and then 
they were to pay 10 sk. duty for each hundred pounds.^ 

Under the terms of the new charter, the Company was given 

^ The " interim " charter or octroi was issued on February 22, 1732. 
2 See Host, Efterretninger om Oen Sand Thomas, pp. 115 et seq., for an abstract 
of the entire octroi. 

[2131 



214 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

a monopoly of trade with its islands, and exemption from the 
Sound and other duties,^ though it was to pay two and one-half 
per cent, duty on goods imported into Copenhagen and only 
one per cent, on those exported from Copenhagen to foreign 
ports. ^ This was evidently intended to encourage foreign trade 
and thereby to bring more money into the state. The ships, 
moneys, or effects of the Company were not to be subject to 
seizure during war or peace .^ 

The Company was authorized to try all cases arising within 
its jurisdiction, in a court consisting of three of its own share- 
holders. Appeals to the supreme court could be made only in 
cases involving life or honor. Judgments in disputes between 
the Company and the inhabitants of the islands might come 
up for review before a body composed of three shareholders, 
other than the above, and four judges of the supreme court.^ 
Wherever the charter failed to cover the situation, the Danish 
laws were to be considered applicable.^ The appointments of 
Reformed and Lutheran ministers of the gospel were, like those 
of governors, to be confirmed by the king.^ Toleration of be- 
lief continued to be granted, but only the two faiths above- 
mentioned were permitted to hold public worship.^" 

With respect to fiscal matters, some curious provisions were 
made. Interest was to be fixed at such rates as might be agreed 
upon between the Company and its creditors, ^^ and "tenths" 
and "sixths "might be assessed or not as the Company desired. ^^ 
Evidently the Company did not propose that the claims made 
by the planters in 1715 should be revived. 

The executive authority in the colonies was to rest with the 

* " Compagniets Varer skulle i Kjobenhavn og (Jresund vcere frie for Told Con- 
sumtion, Accise og andre Paalceg, og deres Skibe vare frie for Last- og Havne- 
Penge, etc" Host, 117 (H 9). 

i^lIlO. 
"Ulii. 
' H 13. 

8 If 28. 

9 Ts 18 and 21. 
'0 If 18. 

" II 17. 
12 If 33. 



THE COMPANY UNDER THE NEW CHARTER 215 

governor and his council, but in place of the former burgher 
council or court, there was authorized a lower or town court, 
and a higher court consisting of the governor and four members 
of the lower court.^^ The directors in their "orders and pro- 
visions" of November 16, 1734, issued a list of privileges to 
planters, in which the rights of the burgher council were speci- 
fied in detail. The first members were to be appointed by the 
governor, and thereafter one was to be retired every three years. 
Whenever a vacancy occurred, the place was to be filled by the 
governor from a list of three planters submitted to him by the 
remaining members of the council. 

The burgher council was given the right of conferring with 
the governor and his council whenever it had any matters to 
propose concerning the common welfare. These matters were 
to be presented in writing, and might be forwarded to the di- 
rectors by the first ship, whether the governor in council offered 
any reply or not. Although it might thus make its desires 
known to the authorities in the islands and in Copenhagen, the 
burgher council had no power of initiative except at the written 
order of the privy council or the directors. ^^ The directors were 
to find that once they had granted the right to advise, it would 
be exceedingly diflBcult to prevent the planters from becoming 
virtual legislators. 

The problem of securing planters for the three hundred planta- 
tions which it was proposed to lay out at St. Croix was one of 
first importance to the Company. The early attempts of the 
king and the leading stockholders to begin actual work on the 
pieces of ground allotted to them was an encouraging sign. A 
few English settlers ^^ who had moved to St. Croix before the 
Danes secured it, signified their willingness to pay for their land, 
and others from Barbados and the "upper islands" indicated 
their readiness to come if the conditions laid down were not 

" If 28. 

" Udtog af den Ordre og Anstalt. . . ." (November 16, 1734), 1fl6. Mart- 
feldt MSS., Vol. III. 

1^ A number of the English were reported to have removed to Tortola and 
Spanishtown, after Moth's arrival at St. Croix. Gardelin, etc., to Directors 
(December 28, 1734). MaHfeldt MSS., Vol. VI. 



gl6 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

too severe. They were quite opposed to paying the 40 rdl. an- 
nual land tax asked for by the directors, though the tax was not 
to be paid until the close of the seven year exemption period. ^^ 
Occasionally poor men who had only from three to half a dozen 
slaves applied for a chance to buy small tracts, but they were 
delayed by the instructions of the directors, who wished first 
to dispose of the two hundred and fifteen sugar plantations be- 
longing to the shareholders.^'^ 

The penniless man, were he ever so hard-working, could hope 
for little in the West Indies, which deserved then perhaps more 
than at present the appellation of "a rich man's heaven and a 
poor man's hell." A number of families sent from Germany to 
St. Croix cost the Company more than they were worth. Ex- 
cept for three families that deserved to be called industrious, 
the men proved to be drunkards, and the women, dirty, lazy, 
and immoral. "We therefore do not wish to risk," wrote the 
governor and council, "recommending the sending out of any 
additional families of that sort." ^^ The proposal to encourage 
refugee debtors to come to St. Croix was not favorably enter- 
tained by the local authorities, who, eager to secure sober, in- 
dustrious folk, suggested that they should not exceed twenty- 
four years of age, and that not fewer than one hundred be sent 
with each ship "if it is to do any good, inasmuch as half of them 
will no doubt die off.''^^ 

As the surveying of sugar and cotton plantations neared its 
completion in the summer of 1735,^" work on the forts was 
pushed forward on all three islands. On St. John, where the 
Company had been taken severely to task by the planters for 
the inadequacy of the fort during the recent insurrection, a 
fort one hundred feet in length, furnished with bastions the 
guns of which could command Coral Bay, was in process of 

^^ Udtog aj den Ordre og Anstalt . . . (November 16, 1734.) Martfeldt MSS. 
Vol. Ill; Gardelin, etc.. to Directors, August 8, 1734, B. & D., 17SS-Sh 
1' Gardelin. etc.. to Directors (August 8, 1734). Martfeldt MSS., Vol. VI. 

18 Moth, etc., to Directors (July 21. 1737). Martfeldt MSS., Vol. VI. 

19 Ibid. (July 23, 1735). 

2" Thomas '"Haves" (Howes?), an Englishman from one of the neighboring 
islands, took charge of the work, being aided by a force of negroes from St. 
Thomas. 



THE COMPANY UNDER THE NEW CHARTER 217 

construction. In 1736 it represented an investment, according 
to the Company's books, of 2,700 rdl. It was the St. Thomas 
fort, however, in which the governor and council took especial 
pride. The increasingly strained relations between the English 
and the Spaniards, neither of whom looked with favor on Den- 
mark's purchase of St. Croix, made stronger fortifications at St. 
Thomas seem imperative. "The fort is now ready, God be 
praised," was the joyful announcement sent on to the directors 
in March, 1735, "and in such condition that the English them- 
selves who come here must confess that there is not a fort like 
it in all the upper islands. ^^ It can now be defended by a small 
force of 30 to 40 men." Christianswsern on St. Croix, located 
near the Basin on the north side of the island, was not finished 
until about 1740. It was a fairly pretentious structure, 200 
feet square.^^ 

The plantations as surveyed were usually three thousand feet 
long by two thousand feet wide. To prevent a depression in the 
real estate market, stockholders were forbidden to sell the ground 
allotted to them at less than 1,000 rdl. for a sugar plantation, and 
half that sum for a cotton plantation.^^ But the terms of sale 
seemed too high for many of the intending settlers. In March, 
1736, the government reported that in conformity with the 
demands of the intending English settlers, it had reduced the 
price of sugar plantations from 1,000 to 500-600 rc?^., one-sixth 
to be paid each year, with interest at six per cent, on the unpaid 
balance. The cost of cotton plantations was similarly reduced, 
the price being fixed at 20 to 40 rdl. for each million square feet, 
according to the suitability of the soil. Such slaves as were 
brought in by new planters were to be admitted free of duty. 
The years of exemption were reduced from seven to three for 
settlers who cared to take advantage of these terms. ^^ 

The directors, moved by the plaints of their representatives 

2^ Ober-Eilande appears to have referred to the Leeward Islands. 

22 Moth, etc., to Directors (September 1, 1737). Martfeldt MSS., Vol. VI. 

2' Udtog af den ordre og Anstalt . . . (November 16, 1734), paragraphs 12 
and 13, Martfeldt MSS., Vol. III. 

24 Kop. iSc Extr.. S. P. for St. Th., 1735-52 (March 26, 1736). Of the two 
hu ndred and fifteen plantations allotted to shareholders, eighty-seven had been 
assigned when the above resolutions were made. 



218 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

in St. Thomas, who bewailed the decreasing ratio of whites, 
provided for a poll tax of one rixdollar for each full-grown slave, 
omitting the former tax on the white inhabitants. The attempt 
to secure a land tax of 40 rdl. for each plantation of 6,000,000 
square feet was given up, and the authorities contented them- 
selves with 12 rdL^'^ 

After its relinquishment of the slave-trade, the Company 
hoped to augment its revenues by means of its plantations, 
especially those that were being begun on St. Croix. During 
the nine years from 1726 to 1734, inclusive, the Company's 
Sugar Plantation on St. Thomas had yielded a measurable 
profit for only five seasons, so that the average annual gain was 
just 1,335 rdl. During the same period, the New Quarter 
Plantation went through four profitless seasons, in three of 
which it incurred an actual loss; yet its average gain was 1,011 
rdl.^^ This profit was the estimated net result of an investment 
which was set down in the census for 1735 at a total of 14,121 
rdl. for the former plantation and 14,530 rdl. for the latter.^^ 
The showing was admittedly meager, in view of the nearly two 
hundred negroes in the Company's possession on St. Thomas, 
but these negroes were used for a variety of purposes besides 
planting. Thirty or forty were usually at work on the repara- 
tion of the fort; half a score made up the warehouse force, which 
was doubled when the ships came in; ten more were required 
by each of the Company's ships when it lay in the harbor ready 
for its cargo; there were six carpenters, eight masons, four 
smiths, a water carrier, a tambour, and a provost; a skilled 
sugar boiler attended to the juice as it came from the mill; a 

25 Udtog af den Ordre og Anstalt . . . (November 16. 1734). Martfeldt MSS.. 
Vol. Ill; Land Listefor St. Croix, 1742. 

^^ Negotie-Journaler for St. Thomas. 

2' The 14,121 rdl. of the Sugar Plantation's capital was distributed as follows: 
slaves (25 men, 39 women, 46 children), 7,755 rdl.; beasts (2 horses, 4 mules, 
2 asses, 11 cattle), 366 rdl.; the plantation, with boiling house, warehouse, and 
manager's dwelling, 6,000 rdl. See above, pp. 130-133, for 1690-1704. 

The New Quarter plantation, valued at 14,530 rdl. included slaves (41 men, 
55 women, and 24 children), worth 9,305 rdl.; beasts (2 horses, 5 mules, 1 ass, 
5 cattle); and plantation with outfit, 4,800 rdl. Negotie- Journal for St. 
Thomas, 1735. 



THE COMPANY UNDER THE NEW CHARTER 219 

cooper made pipes and hogsheads from Carolina and New Eng- 
land hoops and staves; two trusted slaves ran the Company's 
bark; a few old domestic negresses who refused to do any planta- 
tion work added their numbers to the Company's quota; and a 
force of twenty or thirty negroes furnished wood both for fuel 
and for ballast in the Company's ships. ^^ It was clear enough 
that, after deducting for women, children and incapacitated 
slaves, the Company's plantations were not likely to command 
the labor required to bring a maximum return. 

Despite the fact that the income from the Sugar Plantation 
fell, during the years from 1735 to 1745, to less than half of 
what it had been during the preceding decade, the Company 
hung grimly to it through its entire corporate existence, al- 
though in the last six years (1749 to 1754, inclusive) the planta- 
tion showed an annual deficit.^ With the New Quarter planta- 
tion the Company was more fortunate, for during the last 
eleven years — that is, up to the date of its sale in 1746 — it yielded 
an average annual return of 1,136 rdl. 

It required no especial perspicacity to see that Company 
ownership and operation of plantations were not likely to fulfill 
the expectations of the shareholders. Since the slave trade had 
been left to private initiative on the reorganization of the Com- 
pany in 1734, it became increasingly clear that the directors 
would have to look to the control of the Danish-Norwegian mar- 
ket for its profits. The first essential step in the direction of 
monopoly was taken when the Company in 1737 acquired con- 
trol of the two competing refineries owned by the Pelt and 
Weyse families.^° 

But other forms of competition had to be met before appreci- 
able profits could be diverted into the Company's treasury. As 
early as 1735, the king had trebled the duties on refined sugars, 
candies, loaf sugar and sirups.^^ At about the same time : namely, 

*8 Gardelin, etc., to Directors (August 8, 1734), B. & D., 1732-3^. 

^ The average net return from the Sugar Plantation during the years 1735- 
1745, inclusive, was 489.9 rdl.; for the entire period of 1735-1754, it was only 
189.5 rdl. 

'"' See above, pp. 206, 207. 

^^ The duties were raised from 5 to 15 sTc. for each pound of sugar, and from 
6 to 15 m. for each 100 pounds sirup. Mariager MS., p. 169. 



220 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

on April 25, 1735, the king published a mandate allowing Danish 
subjects the right freely to trade with the Danish possessions 
in Guinea and in the West Indies, and the privilege of taking 
the colonial produce to foreign ports and to all Danish-Norwe- 
gian ports except Copenhagen.^^ Although the king's magis- 
trates in Norway and in the Danish provinces had been particu- 
larly instructed to encourage trade in the sugar refined by the 
Company, they found it impossible to prevent the smuggling 
of foreign refined sugars, especially in Norway, where the fiords 
invited illicit trade. The Norwegian magistrates advised the 
abolition of the sugar duties,^^ which were actually reduced to 
their former level. The Company, which seemed quite able 
to meet the domestic demand, found its Norwegian consign- 
ments of sugar perceptibly rising,^^ 

The royal mandate of 1735 had not had the desired effect 
in stimulating trade; so in a mandate issued on June 18, 1743,^^ 
private traders were allowed to sell their West Indian cargoes 
in Copenhagen as well as elsewhere. With those taking up this 
trade or signifying their intention of doing so, the Company 
entered into an arrangement on December 3, 1745, with the 
idea of preventing needless competition. The outsiders were 
to be allowed to send various East Indian and Chinese wares, 
and linens, as well as provisions and some "heavy goods"; and 
these might be sent from Amsterdam and other places besides 
Copenhagen.^® 

But trade was by no means free, even to Danish subjects, 
who were to pay the usual five per cent, duty on incoming, and 
six per cent, on outgoing cargoes. They were allowed to com- 
plete a cargo in a foreign island, to be sure, but if they brought 
it into the harbor of a Danish colony, they would still be required 
to pay the six per cent, export duty. On goods sold by the 
Company in the West Indies for the private adventurers, a 

32 Manager MS., p. 168. The owners of ships taking part in this trade were 
to pay 2 rdl. for each ton (Laesf), apparently whenever they received the passes 
and privileges necessary for each voyage. 

^^ Their communications were dated April 25, 1740, and June 28, 1741. 

'^ Manager MS., pp. 172 et seq. 

'' Ifnd., MS., p. 191. 

3« Ibid,, MS., pp. 175 et seq. 



THE COMPANY UNDER THE NEW CHARTER 221 

commission of eight per cent, was charged, of which four went 
to the Company, and four to the West Indian officials.^^ Traders 
who thus disposed of their cargoes were required to secure their 
return cargoes from the Company's West Indian warehouse; 
only if that was impossible were they allowed to supply their 
wants in the open market. 

Slaves brought from the Guinea coast by non-Company 
skippers were to be sold at auction without delay, and return 
cargoes to be secured in the mode above-mentioned. The 
ships of the Company and of private traders were to have prefer- 
ence over those of foreigners in the getting of cargoes.^^ 

Not yet satisfied with their terms, some of the merchants, 
on April 4, 1746, proposed further modifications; they asked 
among other things for complete exclusion of foreigners from 
the trade. The aggressiveness of the private adventurers finally 
prompted the directors to propose a plan of cooperation which 
would virtually bring the energetic traders into the Company. 
The king, or at any rate that Board of Trade and Agriculture^^ 
which acted for him, had lent so sympathetic a hearing to the 
demands of the merchants that the directors, in a communica- 
tion dated October 3, 1746, actually suggested that the king 
follow the example of the monarchs of France and England, 
and take over the colonies himself. It was curious enough that 
the first proposal for the discontinuance of the Company should 
come from its own directorate. The alternative suggestion 
made by the directors in the same communication was the one 
actually followed. 

The "Plan and Convention of Union," which provided for 
pooling the interests of shareholders in the Company with those 
of private traders, was published February 6, 1747. So far as 
Denmark was concerned, the plan succeeded brilliantly. In 
the general assembly of the Company, held on March 4, the 

^' Manager MS., p. 178. The governor and bookkeeper were each to receive 
one, and the merchant or factor, two per cent. 

^* Manager MS., pp. 180 et seq. 

^* General-Landets-Okonomi-og-Kommercekollegiet (1735-1768) continued the 
commercial functions of the Board of Police and Trade {Politi-og-Kommerce- 
kollegiet, 1708-1731) and commanded the services of some of the most dis- 
tinguished men of the state. 



222 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

directors were able to announce that the number of shares in 
the Company's "circulating fund," as the new capital stock 
was called, had been increased from three hundred and sixty- 
eight to one thousand, and those in the sugar refinery from 
one hundred and seventeen to two hundred and fifty, — all 
within the space of a few days. On March 27 an edict was 
published abrogating all private trade with the colonies and on 
April 12, 1747, the old and new shareholders of the Company 
met to set the new scheme in operation. This reorganization 
had increased the resources of the Company by 316,000 rdl., 
and those of the refinery by 66,500 rdl., or more than one 
hundred fifty per cent.^'' 

Results so highly pleasing to the stockholders of the corpora- 
tion were likely to be viewed in a different light by colonists 
who felt that this was simply another scheme to promote the 
interests of the Company at their expense. The center of co- 
lonial opposition was naturally to be found in the recently 
acquired and nearly virgin island of St. Croix, where plantation 
industry had made rapid progress and where in 1741 were to 
be found about three hundred Englishmen *^ who were none too 
amenable to Danish law or Company regulations. 

A brief survey of the rise of the planting industry on St. Croix 
will reveal those evidences of economic strength that made the 
enlargement of the Company's capital appear feasible in 1746- 
1747. The first census on St. Croix was taken in 1742, on the 
expiration of the seven year exemption period. In that year 
two hundred sixty-four plantations were recorded on the books 
with the names of the owners, and at least two hundred forty 
of these were surveyed. Although the normal size of a planta- 
tion on St. Croix was two thousand feet in width and three thou- 
sand feet in length, making 6,000,000 square feet, the average 
size of St. Croix plantations in 1742 was slightly less than 
5,000,000 square feet.'*- Only one hundred twenty of the entire 
number were listed as "sugar plantations," while one hundred 

«« Comp. Prot., 1741-54 (April 12, 1747). 

^^ H. J. O. Stoud, letter to C. A. von Plessen, January 11, 1741 (Kirkchist. 
SamL, 4 R. 2 B., p. 56). 

••^ The average area was 4,913,100 square feet. 



\ 

THE COMPANY UNDER THE NEW CHARTER 223 

twenty- two were set down as "cotton plantations." Over one 
thousand nine hundred slaves,^^ large and small, were credited to 
the island. 

What the nature of Danish West Indian society was during 
these years of struggle between England and Spain for domina- 
tion in the Caribbean Sea, is disclosed but meagerly in the 
Company's records. This paucity of information is in part 
atoned for by two letters: one written in 1738 by Soren Som- 
mer, who appears to have been sent out from Denmark to serve 
as a manager on one of von Plessen's plantations; the other by 
a Lutheran minister, H. J. O, Stoud, who came to the islands 
late in 1740. 

Sommer was a man of mediocre attainments, but apparently 
an honest observer. In a letter ** written at St. Thomas 
shortly after his arrival he comments upon the high prices 
of cattle, poultry, provisions, and especially of linens.''^ The 
prices on St. Croix are higher than on St. Thomas, he explains, 
because goods must all come nid St. Thomas. He finds decent 
people rather scarce, and seems surprised that "white women 
are not expected to do anything here except drink tea and 
coflPee, eat, make calls, play cards, and at times sew a little." 
Nearly all the women would consider it quite beneath their 
dignity to go into the kitchen even to supervise it. The men 
are as leisurely as the women, but take their comfort in the bil- 
liard houses, and, he might have added, in the taverns, in 
which enormous quantities of intoxicants were consumed, and 
which the governors found to be constant sources of disorder. 

^^ One thousand, five hundred fifty-nine " capable " slaves, thirty-one defect- 
ives or " manquerons," and three hundred sixteen children. 

^ Soren Sommer's letter to parents, d. St. Thomas, April 29, 1738. Ny. Kgl. 
Saml. 764. 

^^ Among the prices quoted by Sommer are the following: a bull, 60 to 70 rdl,; 
a cow, 30 rdl.; a sheep or goat, 4 rdl.; a goose, 1 rdl.; a turkey gobbler, 1 rdl., 
3 m.; flour per bbl., 6-8 rdl.; salt meat, 9-12; beer, 8-10; Bourdeaux red wine, 
per hhd., 30 rdl.; Provengal wine, 20 rdl.; Madeira wine, per pipe, 60-100 rdl.; 
3 marks was the charge for a very ordinary meal, while 1 rdl. was the usual 
charge per day. Linen selling in Denmark at 3 m. could bring 1-2 sldl. in St. 
Thomas. It must be remembered that prices were affected by England's being 
at war with Spain at this time. 



224 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

Few if any of the Lutheran ministers who took up the arduous 
duties of caring for the spiritual needs of this motley and tur- 
bulent population left a deeper impression upon the communi- 
ties which they served than Hans Jacob Ottesen Stoud.^^ During 
his nine years of service (1740-1749) he managed to buy three 
cotton plantations/'^ with which he was able to augment a very 
slender salary .^^ What was equally out of the ordinary for a 
minister was his election to a place on the privy council (of St. 
Croix?) where he was particularly concerned with matters 
appertaining to religion and education. 

Stoud's interest in his surroundings began with his arrival. 
In a letter to Charles Adolph von Plessen early in 1741, he ex- 
presses himself with great freedom on local conditions, especially 
in St. Croix. He divided his time between his congregations 
on St. Croix and St. Thomas, spending four weeks alternately 
at each place.^^ He pays his compliments to the population, 
which, he finds, has little respect for the laws of God or man. 
Concerning the three hundred or so of Englishmen on St. Croix, 
he says that "they must rather be looked upon as traitors and 
rebels than subjects and inhabitants of this country; for they 
have during my stay caused such tumult by threatening to 
leave the land in order to fight for their king against the Span- 
iards,^° that we should not have dared to remain here without 
securing help from St. Thomas. They dare, indeed, to threaten 
the lives of us Danes if they cannot get what they want, for 
they know that we are but a handful, sixty persons in all, as 
compared to their great power. ..." 

Like Sommer, he notes the high prices of provisions, and sug- 
gests encouraging Norwegian ships to sail to the Danish islands, 

^^ For a brief sketch of his life, see H. F. Rordam, " Kirkelige Forholde paa 
St. Croix 1741 " (Kirkehist. Sand-., 4 R. 2 B., pp. 67 ct seq.). 

^' They contained 6, 3, and 2J<£ million sq. ft., respectively. In the census 
for 1743, he is taxed for 13 working slaves, and is credited with three who are 
under age. 

'^ His salary at first was 220 rdl. Rordam, " Kirkelige Forholde," 
p. 61. 

'"' During his stay at St. Thomas, he usually gave one Sunday of each month 
to St. John. 

«» The "War of Jenkins' Ear" began in 1739. 



THE COMPANY UNDER THE NEW CHARTER 225 

for they could bring lumber as well as provisions.^^ He finds sick 
people sleeping in the same room with well people, and dying 
from want of proper food. 

"You high lords!" he exclaims in indignation, "I heard much 
whining and complaining while at home because of the small 
profit which this land yields, but may God have mercy upon 
you and save this country and us all from curse and disaster 
because of the many souls who have so innocently lost their 
lives in such a fashion." ^^ 

As a result of Stoud's vigorous representations of local needs, 
ground for a hospital was actually bought on St. Thomas in 
1743. The present hospital on that island, which stands on the 
site then selected, thus owes its origin to Stoud's energetic 
measures. In his busy life and despite the lack of text-books, 
Stoud even found time to instruct a half hundred blacks in the 
art of reading and in the rudiments of religion. The Moravians 
had indeed begun their self-sacrificing labors nearly a decade 
before, but this appears to have been the first instance where a 
Danish Lutheran minister has done missionary work among the 
negroes on a measurable scale. Systematic missionary work 
with the blacks was not begun until the close of the Company's 
career. 

While Stoud was no doubt largely right in looking on St. 
Croix in these early years as "very poor," especially from the 
viewpoint of the men who had to work on a meager wage, 
people with capital could, if they were enterprising and if 
fortune smiled on them, rise very rapidly. During the interval 
from 1742 to 1745 the number of plantations on St. Croix re- 
mained practically stationary, for little idle land was left, but 
the number of slaves increased from nineteen hundred and 
six to twenty-eight hundred and seventy-eight, a gain of fifty- 
one per cent, in three years. The outbreak of war between 

^^ "In these times candles cost 2 marks the pound; butter, 24 sk.; 1 hen, 24 sk., 
at least; 1 pot of beer, 24 sk., 1 pot of wine, 2 to 3 m.; 1 bbl. salt meat, 10 rdl. 
and poor at that; 1 lamb, 2 to 3 rdl.; an egg, 2 sk.; a cow, 40 to 50 rdl.; a horse 
100 to 150 rdl. I am not mentioning furniture and clothes and other things 
equally necessary which are all fearfully expensive, in fact are not procurable 
most of the time." 

" Kirkehist. SamL, 4 R. 2 B., p. 58. 



226 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

France and England had led Governor Schweder and his 
council to remit the duties on slaves imported into St. Croix, 
and thus encourage planters to move thither from the dis- 
turbed area.^^ For St. Thomas, on the other hand, the en- 
tire period from about 1725 up to the Company's reorgani- 
zation in 1747 was one of decline, if the slave population be a 
reliable index. 

Among the early settlers of St. Croix was a Dutchman from 
St. Eustatius by the name of Peter Heiliger.^* The possessions 
of this man and those of others of the same name, as recorded in 
the census lists, may be taken fairly to represent the condition of 
the prosperous planter during the last decade and a half of the 
Company's hfe. In 1742 four members of the Heiliger tribe 
held five cotton and four sugar plantations totalling fifty milhon 
square feet in area, and commanding the labors of ninety-five 
slaves. Three years later the family plantations had increased 
by nearly sixteen million square feet, and the family store of 
slaves by forty-four. ^^ Peter Heiliger had boasted to the gov- 
ernor that he did not expect to retire from planting until he and 
his brothers had amassed four hundred slaves. ^^ Although this 
increase suggests a fairly healthy state of affairs among an 
arbitrarily selected group of planters, it was scarcely as large 
as the rate of increase for the entire island. 

The prices of sugar and cotton were naturally facts of the most 
vital concern to the life of the West Indian planter, to whom it 
must often have appeared that the chief business of the Com- 
pany was to see how far below the current West Indian price it 
could force the planter to sell his goods. During the depression 
following the Peace of Utrecht the price of sugar at St. Thomas 
had gradually declined from 5 rdl. per hundred pounds until 
finally it reached its lowest point in 1739, when it brought but 

" Secret-Raadets Breve . . . 1739-^7 (Martfeldt MSS., Vol. VI). 

^* Or Heyliger. He had been governor of St. Eustatius, and had apparently 
moved to St. Thomas with his slaves on the outbreak of the war between France 
and England. See letter of Governor and Council to Directors, January 31, 
1744 {Martfeldt MSS.. Vol. VI). 

^^ Land Lister for St. Croix. These census lists are the sources for the 
statistical information in this chapter except where otherwise specified. 

" Martfeldt MSS., vol. VI, pp. 123 et seq. 



THE COMPANY UNDER THE NEW CHARTER 227 

3 to 33/2 '"'dl. The cotton market was slightly better, for whereas 
cotton brought 13 to 14 sk. per pound in 1716, it commanded a 
price of 14 to 14}/^ sk. in 1739.^'' In 1741, not long after John 
Heiliger and his brother had come over from St. Eustatius, the 
price of sugar had risen to 4-43/^ rdl. per hundred pounds. To 
what extent, if any, this increase was due to the outbreak of a 
war in Europe which involved both England and France, it is 
difficult to say. 

The increased prices secured by planters for their sugar were 
no doubt a chief cause in bringing about the increase in the slave 
population already noted. 

Other influences were at work which tended to draw the 
attention of Danish statesmen to the necessity of providing a 
new set of navigation laws for West Indian trade, or, indeed, of 
entirely reorganizing the Company. By waging war against 
Spain over the matter of "Jenkins' Ear," England had lost her 
chance of carrying on legally that trade with Spain which had 
been secured to the South Sea Company by the Asiento of 1713. 
With the opening of the War of the Austrian Succession, when 
it appeared inevitable that England would be drawn into the 
war against France, Danish statesmen began to incline toward 
the latter state. By a treaty made in 1739, England had secured 
from Denmark the promise of six thousand Danish troops to be 
provided under certain contingencies, but when it appeared that 
these troops were desired rather to help England hold Hanover 
than to assist Maria Theresa of Austria in her struggle with 
Frederick II of Prussia, the Danish ministers,^^ who were anxious 
to keep out of the complications, decided to cultivate the 
friendship of his most Christian Majesty. On March 15, 1742, 
the very day following the expiration of the treaty with Eng- 
land, a treaty of friendship was concluded with France.^^ 

These events in Europe had their significance for the Danish 

^' Udtog af Sekrete-Raads Protokoller, 1710-20; Udtog of . . . Breve til Direc- 
tionen, 1739-^7. Martfeldt MSS., Vol. VI. See also Appendix K. 

^^ Berckentin and Schulin. 

^^ E. Holm, Den dansk-norske Stats Stilling under Krigene i Europa 17^0-^2 
{Kjobenhavn, 1891), p. 55. This treaty marks the beginning of a policy of 
friendship with France which continued for twenty-three years, and was sup- 
ported first by Schulin and later by J. H. E. Bemstorflf. Ibid., p. 60. 



228 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

West India and Guinea Company and its islands. The mandate 
of June I85 1743, gave to private traders an opportunity to carry 
on with the Spanish islands an illicit trade which would be quite 
beneath the Company's dignity to enjoy. On July 25, 1742, 
there went out from San Ildefonso a royal order signed by the 
Spanish king's minister, Campillo, requesting that the Porto 
Rico government should cease disturbing the Danes in their 
possession of St. Croix and St. Thomas, and should permit them 
to buy — ^for cash — such Porto Rico wares as they might desire.^** 
But the matter of the restitution of the slaves escaped to Porto 
Rico from St. Thomas was not clearly provided for and it re- 
mained the chief stumbling block in the relations between the 
Danes and the Spaniards .^^ A similar order was issued on 
May 12, 1745, with equally meager results. When in 1746 a 
canoe containing eight slaves belonging to Governor Colomo's ^^ 
secretary, Manuel de Pando, landed on the west end of St. 
Thomas, the Danish authorities acted with alacrity to prevent 
the slaves from returning. Could the tide of fugitive slaves have 
been induced to turn towards St. Thomas rather than from it, 
Spain might have made a more serious effort to effect a settle- 
ment through diplomacy .^^ But the Spanish authorities prob- 
ably knew that the Danes gained more from forbidden trade 
than they lost from escaped negroes. 

In concluding the treaty with Louis XV in 1742, Christian VI 
had had his eye on conditions in northern Europe rather than 
on those in the distant tropics. Governor Schweder and his 
council, in one of their first letters to the directors^* after the 

s" Vest. Dir. K. B., 1733-54. This communication, which is of course only a 
copy, and is uncertified, was addressed to Matthias Abadia, then governor of 
Porto Rico. 

" Manager MS., p. 198. 

^' Juan Joseph Colomo succeeded Abadia as governor about 1745. 

^^ The accumulated claims of the Company against "the Spanish Nation in 
America" were estimated in 1745 at 335,911 rdl,. This included 104,443 rdl. 
for two ships lost in Honduras Bay in 1710; 81,467 rdl. for negroes stolen in 
1702; 150,000 rdl. for three hundred negroes escaped from St. Thomas and St. 
Croix, not to mention inliabitants' ships that had been seized and confiscated. 
Vest. Dir. K. B., 1733-54 (May 11, 1745). 

8^ Udtog af . . . Breve til Directionen, 1739-47 (July 3, 1744). Martfeldt 
MSS., Vol. VI. 



THE COMPANY UNDER THE NEW CHARTER 229 

resignation of Governor Frederick Moth, called attention to the 
absence of any Danish-English treaties among the documents 
recently received from home, for "these are the ones of which 
we can make the best use, inasmuch as it is the English alone 
who have molested us of late. . . ." Later in the same year 
(1744) an Enghsh privateer, one "Dromgool," entered St. 
Thomas harbor one night and seized and made off with a French 
sloop or small bark.^^ A Spaniard ^® who had secured Danish 
passports and had become a naturalized Danish citizen, was 
seized by an English privateer and brought to Antigua, although 
the Danish authorities at St. Thomas insisted that he was 
carrying non-contraband goods. The Antigua admiralty court 
actually made plans for sending a commission to St. Thomas in 
order to investigate the Spaniard's status. Against such an 
infringement of its sovereignty the St. Thomas government 
naturally protested .^^ 

These examples will serve to illustrate the unstable conditions 
again obtaining in the West Indies as the result of a European 
war. If the Company wished to be in a position to share some 
of those advantages which enterprising skippers had shown 
themselves able to secure, it clearly needed to augment and 
revitalize its resources.®^ 

Von Plessen, who had assumed the presidency of the Com- 
pany in 1735, remained in its service until 1749, and in March, 
1750, his place was taken by Adam Gottlob Moltke. During 
these years von Plessen had upheld the interests of the Com- 
pany against many kinds of opposition, from that of the enter- 
prising ship-owner Bjorn to that advanced by as experienced a 
skipper as J. N. Hoist, who in a communication to the king not 
only delivered a scathing arraignment of the Company's admin- 
istration but volunteered his opinions on matters of justice and 
religion as well as commerce and colonial administration.^^ 

«5 Martfeldt MSS., Vol. VI, September 25, 1744. 

^ "Don Francisco Hinestroca Martinez." See ibid. (April 28, 1745). 

" Udtog af . . . Breve til Directionen, 1739-47 (April 28, 1745). 

^^ One of the constant diflSculties was with soldiers and marines, who were 
likely either to fall victims to the fever or to desert to a foreign ship for the sake 
of the higher wages offered. See ibid. (July 3, 1744). Martfeldt MSS., Vol. VI. 

®' " It is a well-known fact that all monopolies are injurious to a country in 



230 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

Administrative difficulties in the islands added to the cares of 
the directors. Christian Schweder, a lieutenant of artillery in 
Copenhagen, was selected in 1743 to take the place of Moth, 
whose stewardship was not giving satisfaction 7° Besides these 
disorders within, the Company had suffered serious losses in 
ships. During twelve years (1735-1746, inclusive) five of its 
ships, two of them with full West Indian cargoes and their entire 
crews, were completely lostJ^ 

With the adoption of the plan of union between the Company 
and its active commercial rivals, the opposition in Denmark was 
for the time being silenced. The position of distinguished 
leaders like von Plessen was strengthened by the fact that sev- 
eral of them had become actively engaged in the planting busi- 
ness on St. Croix; they had retained and developed plantations 
secured as a bonus with each share of a specified size. So the 
situation was not so very different from that in the English 
sugar colonies where it was said in 1760 that "Many Gentlemen 
of the West Indies have seats in the British House of Com- 
mons." "^^ The Danish West India planters did not lack ad- 
vocates in Danish government circles,'^^ although they were 
certainly not "represented" there in any modern sense. 

The royal edict clinching the reorganized Company's monop- 
oly of the trade with the West Indies was issued in March, 1747, 
and the news reached the West Indies during the summer. 
When the inhabitants learned that the king had forbidden that 

the highest degree, likewise all monopolistic companies except the Asiatic com- 
panies. ..." On what basis Hoist arrived at this interesting conclusion is 
not clear; apparently he was expressing a generally accepted current opinion. 
Thottske Sand., No. 515 (September 11, 1746). Roy. Libr. For Bjom, see 
E. Holm, Danmark og Norges Historie, III B., p. 236. 

'° Comp. Prot., 1741-54 (April 8, 1744). Schweder's health broke down 
before he had been in office many months, and he was succeeded by Christian 
Suhm. 

'^ Manager MS., pp. 205 et seq. For earlier losses, see above, p. 152. 

'2 Remarks on the Letter Addressed to Tioo Great Men (London, 1760), quoted 
in Beer, British Colonial Policy, 175^-65, p. 136. 

"^ Among the Danish owners of St. Croix plantations in 1745 were the king 
(four cultivated plantations), C. A. von Plessen (six plantations), and "Com- 
mandeur" Captain Lovenorn (six). The other original grantees had apparently 
Hold their West Indian holdings. 



THE COMPANY UNDER THE NEW CHARTER 231 

trade by private ship-owners which had been permitted by the 
edict of April 25, 1735 and subsequent mandates, they became 
well-nigh desperate. A third of a century had passed since the 
last delegation had been sent by Danish West Indian planters 
to present their case before the high and mighty lords of trade 
in Copenhagen. The projected restriction of their freedom to 
trade and to dispose of their produce seemed to strike at the 
very roots of their hard-earned prosperity. 

Schweder's successor. Governor Christian Suhm, and his 
council were alarmed at the opposition raised by the king's 
edict, and expressed their fears for the ruin of the islands and 
the Company's trade.^^ All sorts of threats of reprisals against 
the Company were in the air, — flight, boycott, hoarding of the 
sugar on hand and in prospect, to prevent the Company's ships 
from securing cargoes, — "for they insist absolutely on being 
masters over their own property," wrote Suhm, "and on enjoy- 
ing the same sort of liberties as the French and English subjects 
have. . . ." The report that the Danish planters were known 
in neighboring islands as "the Company's negroes" would, 
they feared, frighten off planters who might desire to move to 
the Danish islands.''^ 

The thing most feared by the planters as a result of the new 
navigation laws was that the ships from New York and New 
England would cease entirely to come to the Danish islands. 
Not only did the vessels from New York, Providence and Boston 
bring provisions (flour, dried codfish, etc.), but such plantation 
requisites as hoops, barrel staves and bottoms, planks, shingles, 

"Suhm and council to Directors (February 3, 1748). Martfeldt MSS., 
Vol. VI, pp. 76 et seq. 

'^ To the Company's complaint that the price of cotton and sugar had been 
set at too high a figure. Governor Suhm replied that formerly, when sugar 
brought only 4j^ rdl. per 100 lbs. and brought a net revenue of only 2J^ rdl. 
per 100 lbs. in Holland, the planters were able to secure a good slave for 100-150 
rdl., while now they must pay 200-300 rdl. at auction. During the same period, 
the cost of mules had risen from 30-50 to 80-100 rdl. or more; a good horse 
from 30-50 to 200-300 rdl; staves, from 12-16 to 35-50 rdl. per 1,000; English 
hhd. hoops, from 14-18 to 40-60 rdl. per 1,000; planks, from 16-20 to 35-40 
per 1,000 feet; shingles, from 3 rdl. to 6-7 rdl. and from 18-20 to 30 rdl., accord- 
ing to size. All of these " are things belonging to a plantation." Martfeldt MSS., 
Vol. VI, pp. 76 et seq. 



2S^ THE DANISH^WEST INDIES 

and horses,^^ for many of the mills which crushed out the cane- 
juice were run by horse or mule power. These North American 
skippers naturally insisted on being allowed to secure sugar and 
molasses cargoes in return for their lumber and provisions, and 
were prepared to pay good prices for them. The prospect of 
having so important a competitor legislated out of the West 
Indian field alarmed the planters deeply. 

The chief instrument by which the planters made known 
their grievances was the burgher counciH^ which usually con- 
sisted of four to seven members who met with the governor and 
privy council to consider matters of general interest. They kept 
a copy of the records of these joint meetings, and not infre- 
quently did they meet by themselves to consider ways and 
means. 

The directors, who had scarcely realized what a disturbance 
their distant colonists could raise, made haste to stem the tide 
of disaffection. The planters promptly sent two of the leading 
members of the burgher council to Copenhagen. One of them 
was a planter of unusual shrewdness named John William 
Schopen.'^^ The directors responded to the planters' grievances 
with reasonable promptness. They made some concessions on 
July 24, 1748, but these proved inadequate, so on August 27, 
1749, they met once more in their general assembly to consider 
some mode of solution. They insisted on the Company's prior 
right to buy the products of the islands at such price as the local 
market and that of the French and English islands justified. 
This price was to be fixed at least once a year, or as often as the 
Company's ships came for cargoes, by "the Government" and 
the burgher council, meeting jointly .^^ Although the burgher 

'"^Kop. & Extr.. S. P. far St. Th.. 1735-52 (November 12, 1748). 

" See above, p. 185. In 1748 the following planters held seats in the burgher 
council: P. J. Pannet, A. Lerke, Jean Malleville, H. Specht, Pieter de Windt, 
Johannes von Bewerhoudt Glaudison, and Johannes de Windt. Cf. Kop. & 
Extr., S. P. for St. Th., 1735-5S (November 12, 1748). The records of their 
proceedings, being non-official, are not to be found among the Company's ar- 
chives in Copenhagen, at any rate not at the State Archives. 

'^ Mariager MS., p. 196; Host, Efterretninger om Oen Sand Thomas, p. 139. 

''^Comp. Prat., 1741-5^, " General-Forsamling'' of August 27, 1749. Cf. 
Mariager MS., p. 196. 



THE COMPANY UNDER THE NEW CHARTER 233 

council was usually the larger body, and the majority vote was 
to decide the market price, a sufficient number of the burgher 
council members usually withdrew in order to make the number 
in each council even when they convened to fix the prices. 

As a further concession the Company permitted the purchase 
of "provisions and other things necessary for plantation cul- 
tivation from New York and other places in New England" for 
plantation products, but specified that all other trade with 
foreign lands must be carried on through Copenhagen alone. 
To this the privy and burgher councils meeting in joint session 
objected that the desired quality of certain necessaries, such 
as Irish beef, butter, candles, sugar kettles for the plantations, 
sugar-mill repairs, hoes, sugar-hatchets, and axes, could be 
secured at a reasonable price in England alone. 

Since 1743, a number of planters had taken advantage of the 
trading privileges then granted by the crown. But their ship- 
ping had been so seriously hampered by the Convention Plan 
of 1747, that the Company attempted in 1749 to conciliate these 
disaffected interests. The Danish colonists were to be allowed 
to import such products as cacao, coffee, tobacco, indigo and 
other dyes, hides and skins, Campeachy and similar valuable 
woods, free of duty, and on exporting them were to pay but 
half of the usual "outgoing recognition," — namely, three per 
cent, on St. Thomas, and two and one-half per cent, on St. 
Croix.^" But they must export such goods in their own ships 
and take them to Copenhagen, whence they might be exported 
to foreign ports. 

These restrictions did not please the planters, who wished to 
be able to ship their purchases from outside — to say nothing of 
their own produce — in any craft lying in the harbor with which 
agreement as to freight rates could be made; they hoped espe- 
cially to establish trade with "the Spanish places" in America. 
The Company's attempt to limit the privileges to those colonists 
who had resided on the islands for three years, also met with a 
vigorous protest from the burgher council, which insisted that 
such a measure would deter intending settlers from coming, 

*" Goods actually consumed on the islands were to be subject to an import 
duty of five per cent. 



234 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

and drive off a number who were already there. They likewise 
insisted that they should not be limited in their purchase of 
ships to those made in Danish-Norwegian lands; there were too 
numerous opportunities in the West Indies for bargains in ships 
of many sorts for such a rule to appear just.^^ 

The arrangement whereby the burgher council was permitted 
to share with the privy council in the fixing of prices on planta- 
tion produce certainly did not make any less apparent the evi- 
dences of friction between those governing and those governed. 
It proved rather an entering wedge which brought in its train 
so much of trouble for the Company as to be one of the 
chief causes for its dissolution. In the burgher council the 
planters had a legally sanctioned instrument which became 
more effective by use and by which they were able to bring 
to the Company's attention all manner of alleged abuses and 
grievances. 

During the years following the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) 
the prices for sugar in Europe tended to decline. The demand 
in New York and New England, on the other hand, remained 
so persistent that with a fairly free market the prices in the 
West Indies continued at about the same level as at the close 
of the war. The dependence of the Danish colonies upon the 
New York traders in lumber and provisions made the West 
Indian government's position peculiarly trying. Nor had 
those West Indian planters who had shown so active an interest 
in buying ships and developing a trade of their own, made any 
appreciable effort at exploiting the Guinea slave trade. 

In the hope of making up for the low European prices and 
ostensibly of inducing a revival of the slave trade under the 
Danish flag, the Danish West Indian government attempted 
to enforce two new ordinances: the first raising the import tax 
on slaves imported to the islands in foreign vessels, or bought 
by the inhabitants in other islands; the second increasing the 
export tax on sugars sold to New York skippers in exchange 

^^ The views of the two colonial councils on the resolutions of 1749 are to be 
found in Koj). & Extr., S. P. for St. Th., 1735-53 (February 17, 1750). The 
directors were willing to permit the inhabitants to purchase American vessels 
only during war time. Comp. ProL, 1741-5^ (February 24, 1751). 



THE COMPANY UNDER THE NEW CHARTER 235 

for their lumber and provisions.^^ The planters saw clearly 
that the foreign merchants would shift the burden by the simple 
expedient of raising the prices on their wares. The directors 
heeded the protest of the burgher council and promptly dis- 
avowed the actions of their West Indian representatives,^^ 

The trouble that the Company had experienced with smug- 
gling during the recent war did not cease with its close. With 
the establishment of the town of Fredericksted on the west end 
of St. Croix came the necessity of providing proper means for 
the collection of customs duties. It was soon found that a 
customs house was not sufficient, but that cannon must be pro- 
vided, and so placed as to command the roads where the ships 
lay anchored. In lack of such a "water battery," ships were 
accustomed to slip away in the night-time without securing 
papers or paying their dues,^* The bribing of Danish officials 
seems not to have been an impossible feat.^^ 

The increasing ability of the planters to make the Company 
hear and heed their grievances must not be taken as a sign 
of economic distress for either party. By 1754 the number of 
negroes recorded in the census lists had grown to seven thou- 
sand five hundred and sixty-six, an increase of one hundred and 
sixty -two per cent, over the figures for 1745. In the town of 
Christiansted were eighty -three white inhabitants, each of 
whom owned from a single slave to sixty-six of them. Of in- 
dividual holdings those of the Heiliger family may be taken as 
a fair index. From one hundred and thirty-nine slaves in 
1745, they increased to five hundred and seventy-eight in 1751, 
fell to four hundred and thirty in the year following, and 

82 Extr. Udskr. af S. P. for St. C, 17U-52 (January 12, 1751). The tax on 
exported sugar was raised from five to seven and one-half per cent., that on 
slaves at 4 rdl. for each one imported, and a " premium " of four per cent, on 
such slaves as were sold at public auction. 

8^ The local government had tried to permit the Company's debtors to sell 
at a higher price than the other planters, but this position they were unable 
to maintain. 

^* General-Forsamlingen (February 24, 1751). Comp. Prot., 1711-5^. 

8^ There was considerable stir over customs frauds in 1743-1744. The table 
of customs dues {Appendixes M and N) gives an idea of the vicissitudes of this 
branch of the Company's income. 



236 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

reached the respectable total of six hundred and seventy in 
1753.^^ Considered as a whole, these figures do not betoken 
anything more serious than a fairly rapid growth. 

The ability of the planters to incur debts increased so rapidly 
during this period that one is forced to conclude that something 
approaching a boom must have been on. In 1747 the Company 
was credited on its books with 136,000 rdl. owed to it by the 
planters. By 1753, the debts of the planters to the Company 
had risen to the considerable sum of 562,000 rdl., an increase 
of more than four hundred per cent, in six years. This state of 
affairs is only partly accounted for by the increase in the planter 
population, whose numbers rose from two hundred and seven 
in 1747 to three hundred and fifty-four in 1753, or at the rate 
of seventy-one per cent. 

The rapid growth of St. Croix finally brought about the sep- 
aration of its government from that of St. Thomas and St. 
John.^^ In 1751 the latter islands received a small measure of 
tardy justice when their poll and land taxes were lowered to the 
same level as those of St. Croix.^^ 

To trace the Company's business through the mazes of "Ital- 
ian" bookkeeping in records that are scattered through scores 
of books and over thousands of pages, and to achieve thereby 
dependable results, are things which the investigators may de- 
sire — and even feel he deserves — but scarcely a goal which he 
may attain. It is, however, worth noting that the "Princess," 
a St. Croix plantation owned by the Company, was recorded as 
being three times as valuable in 1753 as it was when the census 
of 1745 was taken. While the Company's income from poll 

^^ In 1754, the last year of the Company, the Heiligers were credited with 
six hundred and forty slaves, a falling off of thirty. 

^^ Host, p. 136. Jens Hansen, who was in immediate charge at St. Croix, 
refused to submit to the orders of Governor Christian Suhm, even when the 
latter was at St. Croix. The dispute was appealed to the directors with the 
splitting of jurisdiction as a result. Hansen remained as governor of St. Croix 
until relieved by Peter Clausen in 1751. 

^8 Proponenda . . . (September 14, 1751), Comp. Prot., 1741-54. The taxes, 
which had amounted to 2j^ rdl. for each working slave, 8 rdl. for each slave 
imported, six per cent, on imports and exports, and 2 rdl. 8 sk. for each million 
square feet, were reduced to 1 rdl., 4 rdi., five per cent, and 2 rdl., respectively. 



THE COMPANY UNDER THE NEW CHARTER 237 

and land taxes naturally kept even pace with the increase in 
the planting population,^^ its receipts from customs duties re- 
mained at less than twenty-six dollars for each planter up to 

1747, when the receipts suddenly doubled. From that year to 
the end of the Company's existence, they remained at about 
forty-six dollars per capita.^'' 

The unprecedented enforcement of customs regulations which 
made possible so favorable a showing over so long a period was 
without doubt largely due to the zeal with which Peter Clausen, 
who assumed the duties of assistant factor and treasurer in 

1748, performed the functions of his office.^^ After a little more 
than three years Clausen succeeded Jens Hansen as governor 
of St. Croix,®^ and he continued to fill this office with pomp and 
distinction long after the dissolution of the Company. 

Another evidence of the extent to which the Company at- 
tempted to revive and enlarge its business under the Plan of 
1747 is to be found in the number of ships sent out by the Com- 
pany. Whereas previously to 1747 it rarely had more than 
three or four ships on the run to Guinea and the West Indies, 
in 1750-1751 it already had not fewer than thirteen ships in its 
possession, seven of them intended for the West Indian trade, 
and four for Guinea.®^ 

In order to protect the privileged refineries in Copenhagen, 
of which those of the Company were the chief, an edict was 
issued by the king on March 31, 1750, absolutely forbidding 
the importation of refined sugars and sirups into Danish domin- 

*^ In 1742, eighty-four planters paid 2,807 rdl. in taxes, and the Company 
took in 1,267 rdl. in duties; ten years later, there were three hundred and 
thirty-two planters, 8,801 rdl. taxes, and 13,358 rdl. of customs duties. 

^° The figures for 1751 appear to have been omitted from the books. 

" Ekstr. & Udskr. af S. P. for St. Cr., 17U-52 (October 17, 1748). 

"2 ihii^ (December 22, 1751). 

^^ Among these ships with their captains were the brigantine Postillion (Cap- 
tain Hans Rieman Thoersen): the frigates Vesuvius (Jacob Gronberg); Prin- 
cess Wilhelmina Carolina (Nicolaj Hoyer); Jmgershorg (Ole Erichsen); Neptune 

(Captain ?) ; Prince Christian (Captain Pheifif) ; The Crown Prince's Desire 

(Ole Reinholt); Christiansted (Captain Tofte); The Three Princesses (Ronne); 
Princess Sophia Magdalene (Jens Knie); Sorgenfrey (Peder Krogh Collin); 
Christian Frederick (Joh. Fred. Knutzen). Comp. Prot., 1741-54 (April 22, 
1760; February 24, 1751). 



238 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

ions, and requiring the recognized refineries to have on hand a 
sufficient supply ready for disposal at a reasonable price.^* This 
measure, taken in the very month in which Adam Gottlob von 
Moltke assumed the presidency of the Company, was no doubt 
put forward by that statesman.^^ 

But the problem of distribution was difficult, especially in 
Norway, where the many fiords made it almost impossible to 
prevent smuggling. By contract with the Company, refineries 
were permitted in Bergen, Aggershus, Christiansand and Trond- 
hiem in Norway, and in Odense, Randers, Aalborg and Viborg 
in Denmark, all for periods of thirty years.^^ It appears that 
within each diocese or district a certain refinery had special 
privileges, although the Copenhagen refineries retained the 
right to enter into competition with them.^^ 

But the end of the Company's monopoly was clearly ap- 
proaching. The idea of the king's taking over the shares held 
by his subjects had indeed been broached in a general assembly 
of shareholders held in 1746.^^ The Plan of 1747 had merely de- 
layed the inevitable. In 1750, when the Company had eight 
ships on its various routes, the directors proposed to the stock- 
holders that the Company avail itself of freight ships, rather 
than attempt, for the time, to buy other vessels. An over- 
supply of unsold raw sugar was given as the reason for this 
proposal. Although they later added several new vessels to 
the Company's fleet, the loss of three ships in the years 1751- 
1752 must have had a depressing effect.®^ 

^^ Manager MS., pp. 199 et seq. 

'^ This is the view held by the Danish historian, Edvard Holm {Danmark og 
Norges Historic 172(hl8U, III B., p. 236). 

^ Mariager MS., pp. 202 et seq. The incorporators whose names were given for 
the various cities were as follows, — Bergen: burgomaster Garboe; Aggershus and 
Christiansand: Carsten Tank; Trondhiem: councilor of state Hans Ulrich Moll- 
man; Odense: Johan Christopher von Westen; Randers: Soren Simonsen; and 
Aalborg and Viborg: Henrich Ladiges. Within a few years after the dissolution 
of the Company, not fewer than eighteen hcenses were granted permitting the 
establishment of refineries in Copenhagen. It was evidently a profitable busi- 
ness. Cf. E. Holm, Danmark og Narges Bistorie, 1720-18H, III B., p. 164. 

^ E. Holm, ibid., p. 164. 

^ Comp. Prof.., 17U-5Jf. 

^ The ship Christian Frederick (Captain Johan Friderich Knud8en)was burned 



THE COMPANY UNDER THE NEW CHARTER 239 

These losses were followed in 1753 by the news of the misfor- 
tune suffered by the Patientia, one of the Guinea ships. While 
sailing along the Guinea coast between El Mina and Cape 
Coast Castle with a cargo of two hundred and seventy-five 
slaves, three of the negroes started a mutiny and drove off the 
crew, after wounding the captain and killing three of the men. 
The captain and crew were taken aboard an English slaver, the 
Triton, at Annaboe. With the assistance of the English, they 
managed after some trouble and great expense to get back 
their ship and some remnants of their cargo. Captain Erichsen 
finally arrived at St. Thomas on February 28, 1754,^°° with one 
hundred and forty-six slaves. ^°^ 

Before the news of the above disaster had reached Copen- 
hagen, the St. Croix burgher council, through its capable repre- 
sentative, John Wilham Schopen, presented to Frederick V 
an urgent petition that the West Indian colonists on St. Croix 
be permitted to come under the immediate sovereignty of the 
king. Such an act would be considered by them as an "inesti- 
mable act of grace and benefaction," from which they would 
expect great and permanent results. ^°^ 

These various hindrances to the continued prosperity of the 
Company were all set forth by the directors and chief share- 
holders in their Proponenda of July 24, 1754. This docu- 

on the Norway coast on September 14, 1751, while homeward bound with a 
full cargo. The frigate Sorgenfrey (Captain Peder Krog Collin), which had come 
from Guinea and had been sent out from St. Thomas on September 2, 1751, was 
never heard of again. The frigate Princess Wilhelmine Caroline (Captain Nicolai 
Hoyer) while homeward bound from Guinea and St. Thomas was lost on the 
west coast of Jutland, November 5, 1752. Mariager MS., p. 206. 
1"" He had taken on his cargo on September 30, 1753. 

101 B. & D. indk. fra Guinea (September 15, 1753); B. & D., St. Th. (Febru- 
ary 28, 1754); Proponenda of July 24, 1754, Camp. Prat., 171fl-5k- The cargo, 
when it arrived at St. Thomas, included sixty-seven men, thirty women, thirty- 
eight boys and eleven girls. Among the other losses were 1,005 rdl. worth of 
gold, fourteen ivory tusks, and thirty-seven " Creveler. The total loss was 
estimated at about 20,000 rdl. 

102 Proponenda of July 24, 1754, Comp. Prot., 17Ii.l-51f. This and Professor 
Holm's admirable account {Danmark og Norges Historie, 17S0-18H, III B., 
pp. 164 et seq.) form the basis of the following account of the dissolution of the 
Company. 



240 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

ment was intended to lay the state of the Company's aflfairs 
and their recommendation of ways and means to bring about its 
dissolution before the stockholders of the Company. 

Schopen's petition to the king had been referred to that Board 
of Trade ^°^ which a few years earlier had pronounced against 
the absorption of the Company by the king. But the personnel 
of the Board, as well as the character of the times, had changed. 
Early in 1752, J. H. E. Bernstorff had become a member, and he 
is credited by the historian Host, who was a contemporary of 
Bernstorff, with being the chief ministerial champion of the 
St. Croix colonists.^"* At any rate, the Board of Trade reported 
on May 9, 1754, in favor of the plan and suggested how it might 
be carried out. 

The debts due the Company in Guinea and the West Indies 
were estimated at 1,000,000 rdl.', its liabilities (not including 
the refinery) at 800,000 rdl. But the assets were likely to shrink 
to something like 600,000 rdl. before they actually could reach 
Denmark, for prices were high in the West Indies and low in 
Denmark. Under these circumstances, the directors and chief 
shareholders recommended, and the Company, in meeting 
assembled, accepted the offer of the king. 

So Frederick V took over at their par value the one thousand 
two hundred and fifty shares of the Danish West India and 
Guinea Company, which included its refinery stock, and pledged 
himself to assume its obligations. To cover the expenses of the 
purchase, the state issued notes to the extent of 2,239,446 rdl., 
of which 1,250,000 rdl. were set aside for the payment of the 
Company's shareholders. 

The Danish government had no intention of going into busi- 
ness in the Company's stead, but to the great joy of its West 
Indian colonists it threw open all of the trade formerly enjoyed 
by the Company to all its subjects, whether they lived in Den- 
mark, Norway, the duchies, or in the West Indies, This in- 

1°' The General-Landets-dkonomi- og Kommercekollegiet was organized in 1735 
and continued until 1768, when it was combined with the " Vestindisk-Guineiske 
Rente- samt Generaltoldkammer" to form the " Generaltoldkammer- og Kommerce- 
kollegium." 

10* Host, Efterretninger, p. 139. 



THE COMPANY UNDER THE NEW CHARTER 241 

eluded the right to take slaves from the Guinea coast and to 
ship Danish-Norwegian as well as East India Company wares 
freely to the West Indies. Goods produced in royal lands were 
not to be imported from other places, and goods loaded on 
Danish subjects' ships in the West Indies were to go to Den- 
mark alone. This was all in strict accord with the prevailing 
mercantilist theory, which insisted on the one hand, that the 
colonies must supply raw material to be manufactured or pre- 
pared for consumption in the mother country, and on the other 
the more recent idea, suggested by the growth of the colonies 
in wealth and population, that they must furnish a market for 
the surplus produce and manufactures of the home lands. How 
the new colonial policy of the Danish state was to work out 
upon the basis of this new commercial freedom cannot be re- 
lated here. The story of how that policy adjusted itseK to 
the rapidly changing conditions that resulted from those gigantic 
wars in which France lost her New World empire and England 
her mainland colonies, has not yet been completely told. 

The West India, like the East India Company had served not 
only as a field of commercial investment, but as a training 
ground for those statesmen upon whom an absolute monarch 
had to depend in the government of his dominions. The coun- 
cil board of the Company gave frequent opportunity for the 
display of those talents which were likely to prove of use in other 
and perhaps wider fields of endeavor. The Company had added 
two fertile islands to its original New World territory, and had 
managed to retain continuous control of them through numerous 
European wars in which the possession of additional West 
Indian colonies was more than once an important consideration 
for the larger, trade-hungry nations. With its gaze fixed upon 
material rather than human interests, the Company had too 
often pursued a selfish policy, but it had piloted its turbulent 
and heterogeneously composed colonies through a period of 
eighty-four years, and handed over to the king a domain the 
vigor of whose population had been attested time and again by 
their ability to protest effectively against alleged violations of 
their rights. 



SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER: 1755-1917 

When King Frederick V assumed direct control of the islands 
in 1754, Europe was on the verge of a general war. This con- 
flict, in which Prussia and Austria were the principals on land, 
and England and the Bourbon powers of France and Spain were 
the chief contestants on sea, developed into a world-wide con- 
test for colonial and naval supremacy. The control of India, 
Canada, and the West Indies became the avowed object of the 
contending nations. During the struggle, — the Seven Years' 
War, — Denmark-Norway managed to maintain its neutrality 
and undisturbed possession of its islands in the West Indies. 
The enforcement of the Rule of 1756, proclaimed by Great 
Britain in the beginning of the war, worked severe hardships 
on Danish-Norwegian commerce, for France had thrown her 
colonial ports open to neutral shipping, a course that gave the 
neutrals an advantage in time of war that they had not enjoyed 
in time of peace. The Danish foreign minister J. H. E. Bern- 
storff became particularly bitter in his denunciation of England's 
course when English privateers began seizing Danish and 
Norwegian ships and cargoes from the West Indies on the pre- 
text that they contained French owned goods. 

The English, Bernstorff felt, were permitting undue liberties 
to privateers under cloak of fighting for the "freedom of 
Europe." By 1759, an agreement was reached by which a 
skipper was allowed to proceed on giving surety for that part of 
the cargo which was charged with being French and paying the 
costs incurred in the case. This vindication of neutral rights was 
secured in part through the efforts of an expert on international 
law. Dr. Martin HUbner, sent to London by Bernstorff to repre- 
sent Danish interests. As a further safeguard the government 
provided a convoy for vessels returning to Copenhagen from 
the West Indies. 

Among the most persistent matters demanding attention on 
the islands, was the collection of the huge debt owed by the 

[243] 



244 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

planters, a debt which the king had taken over from the Com- 
pany. This task was so zealously performed by the St. Croix 
factor, Peter Clausen, that the latter was made governor-general 
in 1766 on the strength of it. The influential English element 
of the planter population of St. Croix particularly resented the 
methods employed by Clausen and the government to hasten 
the liquidation of these debts. Unable to secure an outlet for 
their grievances in the St. Croix weekly newspaper which had 
begun to appear in 1770, they found that the local English 
colonial newspapers had no hesitancy in giving them space to 
voice their plaints. In a copy of the Caribbean and General 
Gazette, of February 5, 1774, published on one of the English 
islands, this appears: ^ 

"The following little piece, whose greatest merit is that it flows from the 
Heart, Spurning at dispotic Insolence of Power, was sent by a Correspondent 
in St. Croix to a Gentleman here. We publish it as a Tribute due to Natural 
liberty, and to shew our own Countrymen the Happiness they enjoy under the 
mild Dispensations of the British Laws. 

When Heaven, indulgent, bless'd this land 

With peace and plenty crown'd 
Like heavenly dew von Frock's ^ hand 

Dispensed his kindness round 

But base ingratitude soon took place 

In these pointed times 
Heaven sent a Scoiuge to all our race 

To expiate our Crimes 

In pity to our deplored State 

Heaven changed the mighty woe 
All seeing what was wrapt in Fate 

Must prove our overthrow 

But what repentance have We shewn 

To Heaven's indulgent care 
Tho' Storms and Hurricanes We have known 

When Roepstorff - governed here 

^ MS. bound with The Royal Danish American Gazette (Feb. 5, 1774), Royal 
Library. 

^ Note accompanying poem: ' These Gentlemen, when they governed St. 
Croix made the Happiness of the People, the rule of their conduct but — ' 









i DiElNSEL 

S'.., SAXCTTHOMAS 

i iiljrilt-u lUfllie.ltfU ; 



^; . 






/3) 



^'U^^^'' 



CP 



"■^■■iS""' 



^V 



MAP OF ST. THOMAS (1767) 
(Oldendorp's Geschichte der Mission, Barby, 1777) 



//f DlKlXSKI. l)j 

AVINIIX'ROIXS 




MAP OF ST. CROIX 1767) 
(.Oldondorp'.s Gescluchic der Mission, Barl_i>-, 1777) 



[Facing pnpe 24S\ 



SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER: 1755-1917 245 

O! be that Name forever dear 

While age to age shall roll 
When Storms and Plagues and Famines near 

Think on his generous Soul 

In Vain We weep in Vain We Sigh 

His Loss lament in vain 
No friendly aid no help is nigh 

Nought but despair and pain 

For now behold an impious hand ^ 

To curse our wretched race 
Has dealt destruction roimd the land 

And made the Stamps take place 

May heaven appeased reverse our fate 

While Horrors haunt his bed 
And Sleepless vengeance ever wait 

To blast his guilty head Amen. 

After Baron von Prock had turned the governor-generalship 
over to Clausen, he returned to Denmark. In the course of 
defending himself against the charge of too great leniency 
towards the planters, von Prock presented some interesting 
statistics. The yield of sugar on St. Croix, which amounted to 
3,457 hhds. m 1753, fell to 1910 hhds. in 1754. When his term 
began, in 1755, there were 8,897 slaves; when it ended, in 1766, 
there were not less than 16,956 slaves; the number had nearly 
doubled in eleven years. The increase in sugar sent to Europe 
was even more remarkable. While the governors under the 
Company had brought the exports from St. Croix from nothing 
to three and one-half ship loads during the interval from 1733 
to 1755, von Prock boasted that he had increased the number 
of annual cargoes to thirty-eight in 1766, an increase of eleven 
to one. During a single year of his term, forty-five ships had 
been sent to Europe from the colonies. Where there had been 
eight windmills for grinding sugar cane in 1754, there were 

* ' The present Governor has levied a Tax by Way of Stamp on the Inhabi- 
tants of that Island, which greatly distresses them, especially those who were 
born in the British dominions, who forget they live in an arbitrary Government.' 



^46 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

sixty-three such mills twelve years later/ Where the Com- 
pany's governors had tried in vain for half a century to come 
to an agreement with Porto Rico, he had by 1766 succeeded 
in establishing a "slave cartel" with the governor of the island. 
It was of course not the retiring governor's business to explain 
the part played by European conditions in bringing on this 
prosperous state of affairs. 

The memory of the St. John insurrection lingered long in the 
minds of men. Various preventive measures were attempted 
by the authorities. Negroes were not permitted to gather in 
groups beyond a certain number and after certain specified 
hours. Owners were required to keep white managers con- 
stantly on the plantations. The negro rebellion that threatened 
St. Croix in 1746 was put down by a free negro, Mingo Tamarin,^ 
who hunted down the troublesome runaways or Marons, brought 
them into submission and prevented an outbreak. The next 
serious trouble occurred under the royal regime in December, 
1759, after a second interval of thirteen years. Although no 
overt act had been committed, the alleged conspirators were 
punished in exemplary fashion. Some of them "confessed," 
implicating themselves and others. Gibbet, stake, wheel, 
noose, glowing tong, — all were employed to impress upon the 
community the sinfulness of rebellion. Of the fourteen con- 
demned to lose their lives, one managed to escape by suicide, 
but his dead body was dragged up and down the streets, 
thereafter suspended by one leg from the gallows, and finally 
taken down and burnt at the stake. The remainder suffered 
from one and one-half minutes to ninety-one hours of torture. 
Ten others were condemned to be sold out of the island, fifty- 
eight were acquitted, and six were reported as being still at 

* The map reproduced on page 248 may have been submitted by von Prock 
as part of the evidence in his defence. It gives the number of windmills by 
"quarters" as follows: West End Quarter, 5; the Prince's Q., 12; King's Q., 14; 
Queen's Q.. 19; Company's Q., 12; North Side Q., "B," 1. 

^ Mingo had first been made a "captain" of the free negro "corps" by Gov- 
ernor Bredal in 1721; he had in 1733 been placed by Governor Gardelin at the 
head of a band of 300 faithful slaves and free negroes to assist in hunting down 
the St. .John rebels and in holding the fort there against them. In 1758, he was 
again honored with the captaincy. Martfeldt MSS., III. 



SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER: 1755-1917 247 

large — "free as birds." For each of those captured alive, the 
reward was 50 rdl., for each one killed, 25 rdl.^ The change in 
administration had evidently not affected the status of the 
negro. Yet within a third of a century the first important step 
to ameliorate the condition of the African race in America was 
taken in these selfsame islands. In all fairness it must be said 
that the treatment of the slave was probably no worse in the 
Danish than in the English, French and Dutch islands. 

Denmark was the first state to attempt by law to prohibit 
its subjects from taking part in the African slave trade. This 
took place in the edict issued by King Christian VII on March 
16, 1792. The constitutional provision by which this traffic 
was prohibited to citizens of the United States did not become 
eflFective until sixteen years after the issuance of the Danish 
edict. Curiously enough, a humane owner of large plantations 
in St. Croix, Ernest Schimmelmann, himself a director in a 
slave trading enterprise in 1782, was chiefly responsible for 
putting through this reform inaugurated by the A. P. Bernstorff 
ministry. 

The planters who transferred their allegiance from the Com- 
pany and king to the king alone were a curiously cosmopolitan 
lot. On St. Thomas and St. John the most persistent element 
in the population in 1765, when Martfeldt visited the islands, 
was the Dutch, of which about four-fifths was of Zeeland and 
Holland origin. The Danes came next in point of numbers, 
with probably less than half the strength of the Dutch. The 
remaining less numerous nationalities, given about in the order 
of their strength, were the French, Germans, English (from the 
islands), and Irish. The names of two families, one of Holland 
and one of French extraction, were listed by Martfeldt as 
"scorched" to indicate mixture with the black population.^ 

^ Species Facti over den paa Eilandet St. Croix i Aaret, 1759, intenderede Neeger 
Rebellion. Werlauff MSS., No. 22, Royal Library. 

^ Martfeldt MSS., Vol. III. Twenty of the names listed are marked St. Croix, 
though the table is headed "Originen af Familierne paa St. Thomas og St. 
Jans." In a separate list of sixty-eight of St. John's inhabitants, Martfeldt 
has 21 as having come from St. Thomas, 16 from St. John, six each from "Sab- 
bath" and Tortola, five from Denmark, four from St. Eustatius, three each 



048 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

While the planters were being threatened and cajoled to free 
themselves from debts, now to Dutch creditors, now to the 
royal treasury, they managed to find entertainment in various 
places, from theaters to taverns, and other nondescript "houses 
of diversion." No form of diversion was too venal to carry 
advertising space in The Royal Danish American Gazette. At 
Christiansted the planters and their families might for twelve 
shillings per ticket secure seats in the Bass-End theater. Here 
at half past six in the evening could be seen the Leeward Islands 
company of comedians in their performance of King Lear, 
Hamlet, or Richard HI. The evening usually closed with 
some dramatic presentation in lighter vein, such as "The Mock 
Doctor," "Flora, or Hob in the Well," or "The Virgin Unmaskt, 
or the Old Man Taught Wisdom." ^ Occasionally it was found 
necessary to check undue curiosity on the part of the blacks by 
the warning "No negro whatever in the house," while those 
white people who were privileged to enter the charmed semi- 
circle were cautioned — in the public press — against attempting 
to get behind the scenes. Fredericksted in the "West End" 
also had its theater. 

Although no utterances against the authorities were allowed 
publication, individuals not infrequently used this means of 
venting their spleens against their neighbors. "King Liar" is 
publicly warned against writing "any more impertinent mes- 
sages" and against practicing "the servile trade of tale-bearing." 
One J-c-b C-nt-r, apparently a Jew, is charged with a striking 
resemblance to Judas Iscariot, and with refusing an invitation 
to dine "upon a pale looking piece of pork, much the color of 
his phiz." ^ At least thirteen taverns played their part in the 
life of St. Croix. Like Governor Clausen, when he labored in 
the interest of the royal treasury, they too found it necessary 

from Ireland and St. Martin, and one apiece from Germany, Curagao, Mont- 
serrat and St. Kitts. 

* Other titles of popular farces and melodramas are: "The Beaux Stratagem," 
"The Fair Penitent," "The King and Miller of Mansfield," "The Cheats of 
Scapin," "Miss in her 'Teens," "The School Master's Ballet," "Damon and 
Phillida," "The Orphan, or The Unhappy Marriage," "The Inconstant, or the 
Way to Win liim," "The Reprisal, or the Tars of Old England." 

9 R. D. A. G., April 10, 1771. 



SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER: 1755-1917 249 

to try to get on a cash basis. Clausen's vigorous administration 
soon revealed a regular system of smuggling, especially on the 
south side of St. Croix, opposite to the port of Christiansted.^" 
An Englishman was found on the island practicing the danger- 
ous art of counterfeiting. 

Law-abiding traits and the higher aspects of civilization are 
not always reflected in the public records or the public press; 
but it seems clear that the population of the Danish islands 
was as ingenious and versatile as it was cosmopolitan. If the 
evidences of wickedness and extravagance are numerous, it 
must not be forgotten that times were good, and the means of 
indulgence plentiful. 

The economic importance of the sugar producing regions was 
immensely enhanced during the Seven Years' War and the 
period following. When in the early seventies Alexander Hamil- 
ton was serving his apprenticeship as a counting-house clerk 
for the firm of Nicholas Cruger on St. Croix, he was near the 
economic center of gravity in the New World. The important 
position that sugar held in the minds of European statesmen is 
indicated by the fact that in 1763, when England and France 
were carrying on the negotiations that concluded the Seven 
Years' War, English statesmen considered seriously whether 
they should retain Canada or the French sugar island of Guada- 
loupe, a bit of land but little larger than St, Croix ! 

Compared with the few cargoes that the Company's officials 
managed to send to Copenhagen each year, the commercial 
activities that centered in St. Croix in the latter haK of the 
eighteenth century were indeed considerable. Up to the out- 
break of the War of Independence, the mainland English 
colonies were tremendously active in St. Croix as elsewhere in 
the West Indies. As the war proceeded, Danish shipping 
became more and more brisk. These islands had learned to 
look on European wars as great sources of prosperity, and this 
war was no exception. The following table, derived from the 
files of The Royal Danish American Gazette of St. Croix, will 
give a fair idea of the relative strength of the shipping of the 

" Amer. Journ., 1770-71 (July 29, 1770, Jan. 3, 1771). 



250 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

English mainland colonies and of Denmark-Norway entered 
at St. Croix." 







Colon. 


Danish 






Colon. 


Danish 




Total 


Ships 


Ships 




Total 


Ships 


Ships 


1770 


.... 14 


7 


7 


1775 


49 


20 


18 


1771 


.... 21 


5 


13 


1776 


.... 56 


8 


30 


1772 


.... 16 


10 


4 


1777 


.... 58 


5 


37 


1773 


.... 49 


35 


7 


1778 


.... 53 


3 


23 


1774 


.... 65 


34 


23 


1779 


10 


— 


9 



In April, 1764, the year following the close of the Seven 
Years' War, the trade of St. Thomas with other European 
colonies in America, was thrown open to the ships of all nations; 
trade to and from Europe was reserved for royal subjects, and 
the products of the islands, if sent to Europe at all, could be 
disposed of only in the harbors of Denmark, Norway, Schleswig, 
and Holstein.^"^ The European trade of the islands was opened 
in 1767 to ships of other nations, though at higher rates. This 
freedom lasted but a decade when during the closing years of 
the American War, the monopoly plan was again attempted, 
only to be definitely given up in 1782. Ships of Danish sub- 
jects were allowed to take their cargoes to any European port. 
In 1815, the trade of St. Thomas and St. John was freed from 
all restrictions, so that European skippers were allowed equal 
privileges with those of America. 

These changes did not affect the trade of St. Croix, where the 
royal ordinance of 1764 continued in force until 1823. In that 
year a royal resolution was published, allowing the importation 
of provisions and plantation accessories from any foreign port 
to St. Croix, and the exportation of an equal value of sugar to 
any such port. One result of this new rulmg was the serious 
decline of the Copenhagen trade with St. Croix. It was not 
until June 6, 1833, on the hundredth anniversary of Denmark's 
possession of the island, that all trade restrictions in favor of 
Danish ports or Danish subjects were removed, and that St. 

^1 The figures for 1770 apply only to the period from August 15 to December 26, 
those for 1771 to the first five months, those for 1772 to the second half year. 
Only the first two months of 1779 are included. 

12 H. U. Ramsing, "Handel og Skibsfart," in Dansk Vestindien, pp. 852-860. 



SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER: 1755-1917 251 

Croix came to share with its island neighbors the distinction 
of being truly a "free haven." 

The Peace of Versailles was followed by a serious commercial 
depression. This affected the West Indian commercial enter- 
prises no less than it did economic conditions in the United 
States, which were then being forced into constitution-making 
by the logic of events that were largely economic in character. 
This return of good times came very opportunely for those who 
were interested in the success of the United States under the 
new constitution. An indication of this general prosperity is 
seen in the shipping situation in St. Croix in the first two years 
of President Washington's administration. In 1789, not less 
than 516 vessels entered at St. Croix. These were of all sizes, 
from schooners and sloops to brigs and ships. Eighty-two of 
these entered from ports in the United States, one hundred and 
twenty-three from Porto Rico, and only sixteen from Danish 
dominions in Europe. The records for 1790, though incomplete 
for December, show a similar result. The number that entered 
was 369, of which ninety-two came from the United States, 
forty-nine from Porto Rico, and twenty-one from Danish lands. 
In a single week in April, 1790, twenty-three vessels were en- 
tered at the St. Croix customs house. ^^ 

In the Napoleonic wars, Denmark-Norway became prac- 
tically an ally of the French state. With British sea-power in 
the ascendancy this meant that Denmark's hold upon her West 
Indian possessions would become very uncertain at best. The 
situation indicated by Nelson's bombardment of Copenhagen 
in 1801, is reflected in the West Indies by the British seizure 
of the Danish islands in April, 1801, and their retention until 
February, 1802, when England and France were preparing to 
come to terms at Amiens. In 1807, when the Danish capital 
was bombarded the second time, the English once more seized 
the Danish islands. This time they retained them until the 
final defeat of Napoleon in 1815, when the islands were handed 
back to Denmark. The frontispiece to this volume is repro- 
duced from a drawing made at this time to show the condition 
of St. Croix after Danish sovereignty had been restored. 
*^ The Royal Danish American Gazette, for 1789 and 1790. 



252 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

As a shipping center and distributing point for the West 
Indies, St. Thomas held a fairly enviable position for the period 
from about 1820 to 1850. In the decade 1821-1830 the tonnage 
of ships annually visiting St. Thomas harbor was more than 
double what it had been during the two decades preceding. An 
average of not less than 2,809 ships of a combined tonnage of 
177,444 called there each year. During the decade 1831-1840, 
the ships averaged 2,557 and the tonnage 161,408. This was 
rather less than before, but after 1835 steamships begin to 
affect the situation. In the years 1841-1850 the number of 
ships fell to 2,169 a year, but the tonnage rose to 208,281. For 
1850, ninety-one steamships are reported. The number of 
Danish-owned ships increased from 232 vessels of an aggregate 
tonnage of 17,448 in 1841 to 507 vessels of 35,507 tons displace- 
ment in 1850. This was an increase of more than one hundred 
per cent., brought about after Danish shipping had been obliged 
to compete with foreign shipping on even terms. 

Commercially St. Thomas was a flourishing port in the forties. 
Its life centered about the harbor and the town of Charlotte 
Amalia. Of the 14,000 inhabitants of the island only 2,500, of 
whom more than nine-tenths were slaves, gained their living 
from the plantations. In 1839, there were forty -one large im- 
porting houses on the islands. Of these, thirteen were English, 
eleven French, six German, four Italian and Spanish, four 
American, and only three Danish or Danish West Indian. This 
situation had not seriously changed by 1850. The population 
was nearly as cosmopolitan in St. Thomas at that date as in 
the mining camps then opening m California. 

After the beginning of the second half of the nineteenth cen- 
tury the ratio of steam craft to sailmg vessels steadily rose. It 
became possible to an increasing extent for the British and 
Spanish islands to import their goods direct from the producers. 
Islands like Porto Rico, Barbados, and Santa Lucia availed 
themselves less and less of St. Thomas as a staple port. Only 
as a coaling place does St. Thomas manage to attract attention 
as the nineteenth century closes. In the opening years of the 
twentieth century' the increased use of the harbor by the Danish 
East Asiatic Company and the German Hamburg-American 



SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER: 1755-1917 253 

Line has greatly increased the importance of St. Thomas as a 
coaling station. The tonnage has been larger in recent years 
than in the golden forties, but cargoes are no longer unloaded 
on the wharves and in the warehouses, hence tonnage is no 
index of the commercial situation. The following table shows 
the situation in St. Thomas harbor for the three-year period 
1908-1910. 

1908 1909 1910 

Ships entered [over 25 tons] 682 690 749 

Boats entered [under 25 tons] 1,918 1,877 1,895 

Coal imported [in tons] 77,555 103,505 

The ships entered in 1910 included 38 war-ships, 446 mer- 
chant steamers and 265 sailing ships. 

Two events must be held mainly responsible for the decline 
in the importance of sugar-cane plantations in the Lesser An- 
tilles during the nineteenth century. The first is no doubt the 
development of the process discovered by the Berlin chemist 
Achard of making sugar from beets. The second disturbing 
circumstance was the demoralization of the labor market by 
the abolition, first of the slave trade, and later of slavery itself. 
For a community that had learned to depend almost solely 
upon a single staple as a means of livelihood, the shock was all 
but fatal. The following statistics of population will serve as 
an index to the economic condition of the islands. ^^ 

St. Croix 

1773 21,809 

1796 28,803 

1835 26,681 

1850 23,720 

1860 23,194 

1880 18,430 

1890 19,783 

1901 18,590 

During the period of the Napoleonic wars, the rise in the price 
of sugar led to the practical abandonment of cotton culture 

^* Bergsije, den dansJce Stats Statistik (Kjobenhavn, 1853), IV, 600; Folketwl- 
lingen paa de dansk vestindiske Oer for 1860, etc. 



St. Thomas 


St. John 


Total 


4,371 


2,402 


28,582 


4,734 


2,120 


36,657 


14,022 


2,475 


43,178 


13,666 


2,228 


39,614 


13,463 


1.574 


38,231 


14,389 


944 


33,763 


12,019 


984 


32,786 


11,012 


925 


30,527 



254 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

on the Danish islands. St. Croix's maximum cotton export 
was reached in 1792 with 157,000 lbs.; the average annual ex- 
port for the decade was perhaps 60,000. An attempt at reviving 
the cultivation of cotton was made in the era of high prices 
just preceding the Civil War. A fresh attempt was made in the 
course of that war, when the acreage was increased from sev- 
enty in 1863 to eight hundred in 1865. In the year 1865-1866, 
71,000 lbs. were exported from St. Croix. Again cotton grow- 
ing fell into disuse, not to be revived until the first decade of 
the twentieth century. Since the failure of the plan to sell the 
islands to the United States in 1902, patriotic Danes have or- 
ganized an association for developing the agricultural resources, 
— a plantation society called "The Danish West Indies." This 
corporation has brought cotton culture to a higher point than 
has been attained hitherto. ^^ 

Sugar planting probably reached its maximum about 1796.^^ 
The acreage figures for that year make an instructive com- 
parison with those for 1847, the year before slavery was abol- 
ished, and with 1851, five years after abolition.^^ The sugar 
acreage of St. Thomas and St. John had already dwindled to 
insignificance by 1851. 

Si. Croix St. Thomas Si. John 

1796 27,655 A. 2,496 A. 1,863 A. 

1847 23,971 1,125 843 

1851 19,736 

The plow was rarely seen on a plantation in the eighteenth 
century. Emancipation brought the plow; here as elsewhere 
free labor had to compete with machinery. In 1796, Oxholm 
reports 119 windmills and 211 treadmills on the islands, of 
which 115 of the former and 144 of the latter were on St. Croix. 
The first steam-power sugar mill was erected on the Hogens- 
borg plantation on St. Croix in 1816, and the second in 1838. 
Power machinery raised the percentage of extracted cane-juice 
to seventy; wind or treadmills could yield only fifty-six per 

^° Capt. H. U. Rainsing, "Landbrug og Havebrug" ia Dansk Vesiindien, 
pp. 790-810. 

1" P. L. Oxholm, De Danske Vestindiske Oers Tilstand, "Statistisk Tabelle." 
" H. U. Ramsing, in Dansk Vesiindien, 795. 



SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER: 1755-1917 255 

cent. By 1852 there were forty steam-propelled sugar mills on 
St. Croix. In 1908, there was but a single sugar mill upon each 
of the islands of St. Thomas and St. John, and only the St. John 
mill was in operation. 

A period of drought in the early seventies led to the establish- 
ment of an elaborate cooperative sugar factory at Christiansted 
in 1877-1878. It was hoped by centralization to reduce the 
expense of manufacture. The new machinery could extract 
eighty per cent, of the juice, and the idea spread to various of 
the larger plantations. The "Danish West Indies" corporation 
has carried the idea of centralization in production and manu- 
facture to a far higher point than has formerly been attempted. 
In 1910 there were on St. Croix four large factories producing 
crystalUzed sugar. Six smaller establishments still produced 
"muscovado" sugar in the ancient way. 

The annual sugar yield on the two older islands at specified 

periods was as follows: 

St. Thomas St. John 

About 1796 1,300,000 lbs. 850,000 lbs. 

1821-26 1,444,000 " 1,100,000 " 

1838-40 1,164,000 " 993,000 " 

As early as 1755, when the period of royal government began, 
St. Croix was already producing one and one-half million 
pounds of sugar. This was more than St. Thomas produced at 
any time in its history. By 1770, the production on St. Croix 
had increased to about 17,000,000 lbs., nearly twelve times; in 
the early eighties it had risen to 25,000,000. In the mid-eighties, 
in that "critical period" preceding the adoption of the American 
constitution, the yield fell to 16,650,000 lbs. In the opening 
years of the nineteenth century the annual production rose to 
about 32,460,000, the maximum apparently being reached in 
1812, with 46,000,000 lbs. Since the Napoleonic period the 
yearly sugar production on St. Croix at various dates was ap- 
proximately as follows: 

1820 24,300,000 lbs. 1860-70 15,730,000 lbs. 

1830 23,690,000 " 1872-77 9,300,000 " 

1840 20,000,000 " 1874 4,577,000 " 

1850-55 15,000.000 " 1880-90 19,000,000 " 

1855-60 13,400,000 " 1900-10 24,700,000 " 



256 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

More advanced methods of cultivation and manufacture have 
finally brought the production up almost to the point that it 
was ninety-six years ago, and that from a smaller area. An 
evidence of this greater eflSciency is seen in the increase in the 
annual yield per acre from 18,638 lbs. of cane in 1878-1883 to 
26,020 lbs. in 1897-1902. The increasing difficulties to which 
the growing of sugar cane was subjected as the nineteenth cen- 
tury ran its course, made the islands more and more dependent 
upon the Danish treasury. Whereas they had earlier in the 
century been colonies commanding respect, they were like the 
British islands rapidly lapsing into the position of dependencies 
calling for state subsidies. With no relief in sight except sub- 
sidies, it only required a favorable opportunity to suggest the 
feasibility of selling. Such an opportunity presented itself as a 
result of the situation growing out of the Civil War. 

Before taking up the diplomacy that eventually led to the 
sale of the islands to the United States, a brief consideration 
of recent local conditions upon the islands should not be with- 
out interest, especially to American readers. "The Danish 
West Indies" plantation company above referred to was or- 
ganized largely from patriotic motives. The impulse came 
after the collapse of the attempted negotiations for sale to the 
United States in 1901-1902. With a maximum capital of 
1,316,316 kroner ($365,277), and despite the introduction of 
steam plows, new breeds of live stock, new varieties of plants 
including the spineless cactus from Burbank's California gar- 
dens, despite increased rotation of crops, such as banana and 
alfalfa, despite the advice of British West Indian experts, this 
plantation experiment has been a losing proposition as a business 
enterprise. The company's books showed a net gain in only 
four years of the eleven-year period from 1904-1914, inclusive. 
The total net loss for the eleven-year period was not less than 
618,638.77 kroner ($171,650). The chief reasons advanced for 
this unfortunate outcome were, a series of unusually dry sea- 
sons, and a number of severe storms. 

The company has also had considerable trouble with its labor 
supply during its career. The demand for workers on the 
Panama Canal drew many negroes off the Danish as it did off 



SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER: 1755-1917 257 

the other West Indian islands. Hence the price of labor rose 
higher than local conditions would warrant. As on previous 
occasions, hard times has brought unrest among the negro 
population. In 1915, the negroes decided among themselves 
that their condition was so serious that it merited the immediate 
attention of the Danish government and people. They ap- 
pointed one of their number, Mr. D. Hamilton Jackson, as their 
special representative, and sent him to Copenhagen to present 
their claims for amelioration of their condition. For a time 
the situation looked so threatening in St. Croix, the center of 
the disturbance, that the Danish government decided to send a 
warship to Christiansted. Mr. Jackson's visit received a great 
deal of attention from the Danish public and press. After his 
return, in November, 1915, he started a newspaper, The Labor 
Union, which is still being published. 

Previous to the outbreak of the Civil War, the interest of the 
United States in Caribbean lands had mainly been directed 
towards Cuba by the slave-holding interests which looked there 
for possible extension of slavery territory. But during the war, 
the lack of a naval base in the Caribbean Sea proved so costly 
an experience to the United States in its efforts to prevent 
blockade-running that the Lincoln administration decided to 
do what was possible to remedy this situation. The program 
of Secretary of State Seward included a larger number of proj- 
ects than was practicable under the confused political condi- 
tions following the assassination of Lincoln. The expulsion 
of the French from Mexico and the purchase of Alaska were 
accomplished, but the purchase of a Canal strip and the Danish 
West Indian islands was deferred to a later date and then 
consummated at a far higher cost than would have been neces- 
sary in Seward's time.^^ 

Seward broached the purchase project to General Raasloff, 
the Danish minister at Washington, in January, 1865, but with- 
out securing any assurance that Denmark was willing to sell. 
In December, 1865, after Seward's recovery from the wounds 

^^ See W. F. Johnson, "The Story of the Danish Islands," in The North Amer- 
ican Review for Sept., 1916, for a useful summary of recent efforts at purchase. 
This comprehensive review forms the basis for much of what follows. 



258 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

he had received at the same time that Lincohi was attacked, 
the Secretary, with President Johnson's approval, again brought 
the matter forward. Following the defeat of Denmark by the 
combined Austro-Prussian forces, and her loss of the duchies of 
Schleswig and Holstein, the Danish Ministry that assumed 
control of the government under these circumstances proved 
willing to consider the matter formally and inquired what the 
United States was willing to pay. The negotiations were con- 
ducted mainly in Copenhagen where the United States was 
represented by George H. Yeaman. After making a personal 
tour of investigation to the islands and listening to the report 
of an army officer who had been sent to make an appraisal of 
their worth, Seward concluded to offer the Danish government 
five million dollars in gold. By this time (1866), the situation 
in Europe had undergone a change. Prussia was now engaged 
in a struggle with her former ally, Austria, for the hegemony 
of the German Empire, and until that was settled, Denmark, 
still smarting under the loss of the duchies was not in a position 
to take a step that seemed likely to be resented by Prussia. 
The English foreign office under Earl Russell had also shown 
its distrust of the plan. 

Another serious obstacle was France. By the treaty nego- 
tiated with France in 1733, for the purchase of St. Croix, Den- 
mark had bound herseK not to sell that island to any other 
power without the consent of the French king. The Mexican 
situation was seriously straining the relations of the United 
States with the Emperor Napoleon III, who refused his con- 
sent to the transaction. Denmark, unwilling to risk the dis- 
pleasure of France, made an offer in the spring of 1867 for 
the sale of St. Thomas and St. John to the United States gov- 
ernment for the sum of five million dollars, and indicated her 
willingness to sell St. Croix for a similar price, provided France 
could be induced to give its consent. Minister Yeaman finally 
made a treaty with the Danish government in October, 1867, 
providing for the purchase of the two northern islands for 
$7,500,000. The consent of the Danish Senate or Landsihing 
was necessary, as was that of the United States Senate. Seward 
gave his unofficial consent to the holding of an election on the 



SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER: 1755-1917 259 

islands to ascertain the will of the inhabitants. He did not wish 
to hamper Congress in any action it might take to settle the 
status of the islands. It turned out that both houses of the 
Danish diet gave their consent, and that the plebiscite on the 
islands carried in favor of annexation by the nearly unanimous 
vote of 1,244 to 22. The sole remaining obstacle was the Senate 
of the United States, and there the chairman of the Foreign 
Relations Committee was Senator Charles Sumner, the im- 
placable enemy of President Johnson. A considerable share 
of the wrath that was piling up against the President had to 
be borne by the head of his cabinet. To have followed up the 
purchase of Alaska by the purchase of the Danish islands might 
have enhanced popularity of the administration, and this was 
not desired by Sumner and the anti-administration forces. 
The treaty was consequently pigeonholed. Denmark granted 
an extension of time for ratification, first to Seward, and then 
to his successor, Hamilton Fish. But the Grant administra- 
tion was only less distasteful to Sumner than the one it dis- 
placed, so on April 14, 1870, the treaty was allowed to lapse, 
and the government was placed in the position of refusing its 
assent to a treaty which it had initiated. 

The United States was saved from an exceedingly embarrass- 
ing position through the circumstance that Denmark made no 
attempt to sell the islands to any other power. The Danish 
government broached the matter again late in Harrison's ad- 
ministration, during the secretaryship of John W. Foster, but 
the matter was not pressed because of fear that the incoming 
Cleveland administration might repudiate the transaction be- 
fore it had been completed. The third time that the matter 
was called to the attention of the government of the United 
States was in Cleveland's administration, but the administra- 
tion that refused to consider the annexation of Hawaii could 
not be expected to purchase the Danish islands. Denmark con- 
tinued its considerate attitude by refraining from seeking other 
purchasers. 

When after the Spanish- American war the question of pur- 
chase came up for a fourth time, the chances for successful 
negotiation seemed promising. Secretary John Hay, the head 



260 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

of President Roosevelt's cabinet, and the Danish minister. 
Count Constantine Brun, discussed the project late in 1901, 
and a treaty was promptly formulated providing for the pur- 
chase of the islands at the price first offered by Seward, five 
million dollars. The French government — now the Third 
Republic — made no objection to the inclusion of St. Croix. 
The treaty was negotiated in January, 1902. On February 17, 
the United States Senate atoned for its previous dog-in-the- 
manger position by prompt ratification. This time the opposi- 
tion came from another quarter. The Folkething, the popular 
house of the Danish Parliament, readily gave its assent but 
in the Landsthing the treaty failed of confirmation by a tie 
vote. This adverse vote has been generally assumed in the 
United States to have been due to German influence. Several 
circumstances have lent color to this view. During the Spanish- 
American war, popular opinion in Germany was very strongly 
opposed to the United States. The attitude of Admiral Diet- 
richs indicated an unexpected impatience on the part of the 
German government towards American plans in the Orient. 
Likewise in the Caribbean Sea that government found itself 
arousing the apprehension of the United States in its dealings 
with Latin American states, much as England had done in the 
Venezuela affair during Cleveland's administration. The rapid 
development of the great German shipping lines, such as the 
Hamburg- American, gives the observer no reason to doubt 
that Germany would welcome the chance to acquire St. Thomas 
or any other suitable port or coaling station in the neighbor- 
hood of the Panama Canal. Whatever may have been the 
actual facts, the treaty was not confirmed by the Danish upper 
house, and apparently German commercial interests were not 
displeased with having St. Thomas remain under Danish rule. 
The reasons for the bungling that took place in 1911-1912 when 
the scheme was again considered, have not yet fully come to 
light. Through the injudicious actions of certain private in- 
dividuals, the diplomatists found themselves obliged to defer 
formal action to a more opportune time. It is significant of the 
American position that when the Danish company, that had 
been formed to deepen and improve St. Thomas harbor, con- 



SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. 1755-1917 261 

sidered the securing of foreign, and especially German, capital 
for assistance in carrying through its original plans, the govern- 
ment of the United States promptly indicated that such a 
measure would not meet with its approval. The plans of the 
company were modified and carried out on a smaller scale with 
Danish capital. 

The plan to sell the islands, when finally disclosed to the 
Danish public by the Zahle ministry in 1916, met with vigorous 
and determined opposition. There is no apparent reason for 
suspecting German influence as a factor of importance in this 
connection. Several of the most influential anti-German news- 
papers labored most valiantly to defer the sale, at least until 
after the war. University professors, economists, men of 
science, well known religious leaders, men of business, — all 
classes furnished ardent opponents to the sale of the islands at 
this time; and these men were probably overwhelmingly anti- 
German. There appears to have been considerable quiet but 
effective activity exerted in favor of the proposed sale by some 
of the leading business men, especially those connected with the 
Danish East Asiatic Company. When the matter came before 
the Danish people for their decision in December, 1916, the 
vote in favor of the ministerial plan for sale stood 283,694 to 
157,596. 

And now, more than half a century after negotiations were 
initiated, and in the progress of a mighty world war, the United 
States has finally purchased the Danish West Indian islands. 
The purchase price, $25,000,000, represents a greater sum than 
has been paid for any of its acquisitions, not excepting Louisiana 
and the Philippines. The islands passed under the sovereignty 
of the United States on January 17, 1917, when Secretary Lan- 
sing and Minister Brun exchanged ratifications of the treaty 
of cession. The United States flag was hoisted on the three 
" Virgin Islands of America " on March thirty-first. Rear- 
admiral James H. Oliver was named as the first American 
governor. 

It is nearly two hundred and fifty years since the oldest of 
the islands first came into Danish possession. As they have 
long been economically American, they will henceforth be polit- 



262 THE DANISH WEST INDIES 

ically American. Their future lies in the lap of Fate and of the 
Congress of the United States. In annexing them the United 
States has acquired a harbor that shares with Samana Bay, 
San Domingo, the distinction of deserving — to quote the words 
of Admiral Mahan — "paramount consideration in a general 
study of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico." The 
United States has taken another distinct and important step 
towards establishing American influence in the lands that lie to 
the north of Panama in securing the Leeward gateway to the 
American Mediterranean. 




lRjbbe^ajns sea 




MART NIQUE 



O'i 



?3' 



EMT Q P- 

'■ BARBAwkl 



<> 



^> 



TOBAflO^ 







LANDS 



[Facing page 262] 



'ate and of the 

m the United 
Samana Bay 
lote the words 
in a general 
Mexico." The 
mportant step 
mds that he to 
gateway to the 




BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The chief repository of first-hand material dealing with the 
Danish West India and Guinea Company is the Danish State 
Archives (Rigsarkivet) in Copenhagen. The entire official 
records of the Company, except such portions as are to be found 
in the Landsarkiv, are piled high on the shelves of the topmost 
story of the archives building, where their repose has rarely 
been disturbed. The materials in the Landsarkiv, or provincial 
archives, consist chiefly of official documents dealing presum- 
ably with the local history of the Danish islands. It appears 
that these records were brought to Denmark from the West 
Indies only about twenty-five years ago, but have suffered so 
from climatic conditions and the ravages of tropical insects 
that they are not available for the use of scholars. The Gardelin 
and Schweder letter-books now in the Bancroft Collection at 
Berkeley, California, were presumably a part of these local 
archives. 

The Company's records kept at Copenhagen do not appear 
to have been accessible until J. F. Krarup, who became assist- 
ant in the state archives in 1870 and first secretary and registrar 
in 1882, proceeded to arrange and label the materials. The 
Company's archives are divided into three parts, correspond- 
ing to the principal scenes of its activity — Copenhagen, the 
West Indies, and Guinea — and each department contains the 
matter which normally gravitated towards that place. 

The manuscript materials in the Copenhagen municipal 
archives (Raadstuearkivet) and in the Royal Library which deal 
with the Danish West Indian possessions are few in number 
but of real importance. Their source will be noted in the 
bibliography. The hbrary of the University of Copenhagen 
apparently contains httle of vital importance that cannot be 
found in one or the other of the above collections. 

One repository remains to be considered, the Bancroft Col- 
lection at Berkeley, California, referred to above. The manu- 
script material there to be found, necessarily fragmentary, but 
by no means negligible, was collected about thirty years ago 
by Alphonse Pinart, who made a tour of investigation and 
collection over Spanish, English, French, Dutch and Swedish, 
as well as Danish islands. The part secured at St. Thomas 
consists not only of copies of official orders and correspondence, 

[263] 



264 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

but of a number of originals. These materials were later ac- 
quired by Mr. H. H. Bancroft and are now in the custody of the 
University of California. 

In the writing of Chapter I, the author has in the main fol- 
lowed the work of J. Frederick Krarup, whose long service in 
the archives gave him a unique opportunity to work out an 
authoritative and indeed a microscopic account of the first 
Danish governor. A careful checking up of Krarup's work on 
Governor Iversen soon revealed the futility of retracing his 
footsteps. Krarup's biography of Milan has also been followed 
in Chapter III in so far as it deals with the West Indian career 
of that strange character. In the chapter dealing with the 
Brandenburg African Company's experience in the West Indies, 
Schuck's exhaustive account (q. v.) has been freely used, but 
it has been checked up and supplemented with documentary 
material from the Company's archives which Dr. Schiick did 
not examine. In the remainder of the work the author has had 
to rely chiefly upon unpublished documentary material. 

Although the major part of the materials are in Danish, a 
few are in German, the language of the court, some in French, 
and a considerable number in Dutch, which was the prevailing 
tongue among the St. Thomas and St. John planters in the 
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 

Manuscript Sources 

Note: The abbreviations employed in the text are enclosed 
in brackets [ ]. 

A. The Danish State Archives (Rigsarkiv) : 
I. The Records of the Company: 

Gouverneurernes Copi-Boger (1686; 1694-1700; 1700-1703; 

1703-1715). Volumes containing correspondence of 

governors. [Gouv. C. B., 1686, etc.] 
Gouverneurens Journaler (1688-1689; 1689-1691; 1696- 

1702). OflScial diaries of A. Esmit, Heins and Lorentz. 

[neins\ Lorentz s, etc., Journ.] 
Diverse Dokumenter vedr. Interimsgouv. Adolph Esmit, hans 

Embedsforelse, Fcengsling, m. m. (1682-1689). [A. E. 

1682-1689.] 
Diverse Dokumenter vedk. Gouvernewren paa St. Thomas, de 

la Vigne (1692-1695). [Delavigne papers.] 
Kopie-Bogfor St. Thomas (1703-1715). 
Kopier og Extrakter af Sekret-Protokoller for St. Thomas 

(1699-1714; 1723-1735; 1735-1752). The privy council 

records of St. Thomas from 1715 to 1722, inclusive, are 

missing. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 265 

Sekret-Protokol for St. Thomas (1694-1714; 1723-1727; 
1729-1730). [S. P., St. TL] 

Lands-Protokol for St. Thomas (1694-1711). 

Kopier af Plakater, Breve, og Ordrer udstedte paa St. Thomas 
og St. Jan (1683-1729). [P. B. 0., 1683-1729.] 

Negotie Journaler forte paa St. Thomas. These account 
books of the Company are practically complete. Sales 
of slaves were usually recorded in them. Their ponder- 
ous size and lack of indexes make them difficult to use. 
[N. J. for St. Th.] 

Negotie Journaler forte paa St. Croix. These begin about 
1736, and are not quite complete. [N. J. for St. C] 

Land Lister for St. Thomas. The first census was taken in 
1688. After the expiration of Thormohlen's proprietor- 
ship, the tax list was made out annually, and the series 
is very nearly complete. [L. L. for St. Th.] 

Land Lister for St. Jan. The first census seems to have been 
taken in 1728. The lists here are less complete than on 
the other islands. [L. L. for St. J.] 

Land Lister for St. Croix. Begins with 1742. [L. L. for 
St.C] 

Breve og Dokumenter indkomne til Vestindisk-Guineiske 
Kompagnies Direction fra Vestindien (1683-1689; 1706- 
1710; 1711-1713; 1714-1717; 1717-1720; 1721-1724; 
1724-1727; 1732-1734). The correspondence of the 
West Indian officials with the directors in Copenhagen 
forms an invaluable first-hand source of information. 
[B. &D.] 

Copie Bog holden ved Compagniets Contoir i Kiohenhavn fra 
den 13 Feb. 1690, til A[nn]o 1713, over "hvad der er pas- 
seret ved det vestindiske Comp." scerlig vedr. St. Thomas. 
[C. B., 1690-1713.] 

Americanske og Africanske Copie Bog (1716-1726). 

Europodsk Copie Bog (1698-1702). 

Dansk-Vestindisk-Guineiske Compagnies Breve-Copie-Bog 
(1698-1702). 

Vestindisk og Guineisk Compagniets Directions Resolutions 
og Forhandlings Protocol (1697-1734). [Comp. Prot., 
1697-1734.] 

Vestindisk og Guineisk Compagniets General Forsamlings 
Protokol (1741-1754). [Comp. Prot., 17U-5A.] 

Vestindisk Guineisk Comp. Rets og Kommissions Doku- 
menter (1709-1719). 

Kopihog for Vestindisk og Guineisk Compagniets Direction 
(1733-1754). [Vest. Dir. K. B., 1733-54-] 



266 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Extrad-UdsTcrifter af Secret-Protocoller for St. Croix (1744- 
1752). [S. P., St. C., 17U-1752.] 

Vestindiske og Guineiske Kompagnies Kassehoger forte paa 
St. Croix (1735-1754). The volumes for 1736, 1740, 
£Liici IT^j^j £irG missmff 

The same for St. Thomas (1680-1754). These volumes 
give the detailed accounts of receipts and expenditures 
of all sorts, e. g., customs duties, weighing fees, etc. 
II. The State Archives proper: 

Christian Martfeldt. Samlinger om de Danske Vestin- 
diske Oer St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. Jan. These six for- 
midable quarto volumes contain the materials collected 
and the observations made by a distinguished Danish 
economist of the eighteenth century who paid an ex- 
tended visit to the islands about 1765-1768. "He who 
would study thoroughly the history of the islands," says 
Bergsoe (Den danske Stats Statistik, Kjobenhavn, 1853, 
IV B., p. 559), "will find here amid considerable rubbish, 
much that is of value for the period before 1765." Vol- 
ume I contains copies of orders issued by various West 
Indian governments from 1733 to 1767, inclusive. Vol- 
ume II with its "Collegial Breve fra Kjobenhavn; Ordon- 
nancer, Instructioner, Reglementer fra Gouvernementet" 
deals with the period from Sept. 3, 1756, to Oct. 4, 
1760, and includes a number of West Indian letters and 
mandates for the period 1741-1745. Volume III con- 
sists of a large variety of documentary and statistical 
material concerning the history and government of the 
islands, and the character of their population. Vol- 
ume IV begins with statistics of St. Thomas's planta- 
tions; the remainder being devoted to the story, in fif- 
teen long chapters, of "the Danish Island St. Thomas 
in the West Indies," an interesting though prolix ac- 
count of all the islands from administrative and political 
viewpoints. The remaining nine chapters are to be 
found in Vol. V. The last volume (VI) contains copies 
and extracts of West Indian archival material between 
the dates 1688 and 1766. [Martfeldt MSS.]. 
Sjosllandske aabne Breve (1654-1655 and 1662). These 
contain references to West Indian voyages of private 
adventurers before the establishment of the Com- 
pany. 
Registrant over vestindiske Sager (1671-1699). [Vest. Reg.\ 
Registrant over vestindiske aabne Breve og Missiver (1699- 
1771.) The above two entries contain copies of pass- 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 267 

ports to ship captains and confirmations of Lutheran 
and Reformed ministers, issued by the King. 

Vestindisk-GuinceisJce Koncepter og Indlaeg (1671-1699). 

Vestindiske Koncepter og Indlceg (1700-1771). 

Protokol over CommissionoBrerne udi Raadstuen for Slottet, 
Vols. Ill and ly (1695). 

Kronologisk Samling af Offentlige Aktstykker vedk. de dansk- 
vestindiske Oer og sasrlig negernes Forfatning betrcsffende 

.. (1733-1788). 

Oresundstoldboger. The records of the Sound duties are 
especially valuable in locating and identifying ships 
outward or homeward bound. 
B. The Royal Library at Copenhagen: 

Werlauff MSS. No. 22. (a) [Pierre Joseph] Pannet: Relation 
de VExecrable Conspiration, raise en Oeuvre par les Negres 
Minces en VIsle Danoise St. Jan en Amerique 1733; (b) 
Specification paa. . . . Compagniets Participanter og 
Actier udi Compagniet og Raffinaderiet indtil den Anno 
1751. 

Ny Kgl. Saml. 426 fol. Peder Manager: Een saavidt 
mueligt fuldstcendig Historisk Efterretning extraheret of 
Det Vestindiske og Guineiske Compagnies Archiv, Roger 
og Protocoller, angaaende bemelte Compagnies Etablisse- 
menter udi Vestindien og Guinea, fra begyndelsen. . . . 
(Dated at Company's office, July 30, 1753.) The 222 
folio pages in this volume constitute the official account 
of the Company's activities from its establishment in 
1671 up to within a year or so of its dissolution. Manager 
had been employed in the Company's office, most of 
the time as bookkeeper, for upwards of thirty years, and 
was intimately acquainted with its affairs. On the 
whole, it is written with remarkable accuracy, and it is 
unique in being an authoritative exposition written from 
the viewpoint of the Company's Copenhagen head- 
quarters. Compared with this manuscript history, the 
published works of Host, and his successors and transla- 
tors, are weak indeed. [Mariager MS.] 
Uldallske Saml., No. 30 fol. Adskillige Placater og An- 
modninger samt Kongelige Rescripter Vestindien vedkom- 
mende. 
Thottske Saml., No. 515 fol. J. N. Hoist, Om hvad der kunde 
voBre Eiloenderne St. Jan, St. Croix, og St. Thomas til 
Opkomst (1746-1755). A series of proposals concerning 
the West Indies by an experienced ship captain. 
Thottske Saml, No. 1298 (4°). R. Haagensen, Reskrivelse 



^68 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

over Eilandet St. Croix. (Dated 1751.) This account, 
dedicated to the newly elected president of the Com- 
pany, Count Adam Gottlob von Moltke, was published in 
1758, and constitutes the first known printed account 
of the island of St. Croix under Danish rule. 

Thottske Saml., No. 764 b. Soren Sommer, En Kort Besk- 
rivelse om St. Thomas og St. Croix. . . , (Dated April 29, 
1738.) 

Kallshe Saml., No. 103 fol. C. A. von Plessen, Resolution 

og Beskeed. . . . (Dated .'') This is an order relating 

to the treatment of the Moravian Brethren. 

C, The Municipal Archives at Copenhagen (Raadstuearkivet): 

Politi- og Commerce-Collegiets Resolutions og Missive Proto- 

coller, vol. 3 (1704-1709). 
Politi- og Commerce-Collegiets Memorial Bog, vols. 21 (1716- 

1720) and 22 (1720-1723). 

D. The Bancroft Collection at Berkeley: 

Governors of St. Thomas. Orders issued for observance 
by inhabitants (1672-1726). Copies of 80 orders pub- 
lished during the governorships of Iversen, Milan, A. 
Esmit, Heins, Lorentz, Crone, Bredal, Thambsen, and 
Moth. 

Gardelin, Phillip. Letter-book containing correspondence 
with officials on St. John and St. Thomas (April 22, 1733- 
August 21, 1734). The letters and orders in this frail 
and yellowed termite-burrowed volume throw interest- 
ing sidelights on the St. John insurrection of 1733-1734, 

St. John Planters. Five letters written to Gardelin and 
Horn (Dec._ 7, 1733-April 19, 1734). [Bancroft Coll.] _ 

Moth, Frederick. Porto Rico letter-book containing copies 
of correspondence with Spanish officials (1734-1743). 

Schweder, Christian. Letter-book containing copies of 
correspondence with St. Croix officials (June 13, 1744- 
Nov. 24, 1745.) 



Printed Sources 

Algreen-Ussing, T. ed. 

Kongelige Rescrifter, Resolutioner og Reglementer, Insiruxer 

og Fundatser, samt Kollegialbreve, med flere Danmarks 

Lovgivning vedkommende offentlige A ktstykker. K j obenhavn , 

1806-1850. 56 v. 

[Danish West India and Guinea Company.] 

Kongelige Octroyerede Danske Westindiske og Guineiske Com- 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 269 

pagnie. Ordre og Instruction for Assistenterne paa del 
Kongelige Octroyerede Danske West-Indiske og Guineiske 
Skibe. Kjobenhavn [1698]. 4°. 
[Danish West India and Guinea Company.] 
Det Kongelige Danske Westindiske og Guineiske Compagnies 
Participanters Convention, Reglement og Foreening ind- 
gaaet og sluttet d. 26 Sept., 1733. Kjobenhavn, 1733. 
20 p. 
[Denmark.] 
Patent om it Guineiske Compagnies Oprettelse i Kiobenhaffn. 
Dec. 10, 1672. [Kjobenhavn] 1672. 
[Denmark.] 

Verordnung wegen des West-Indischen und Guineischen Handels 
Mar. 3, 1680. [Kjobenhavn, 1680.] 4 p. 4°. 
[Denmark.] 
Skibsartikler hvorefter Wi Christian V. . . . [Kjobenhavn] 

1698. 15 p. 4°. 
This concerns West Indian and Guinea Company's ships' 
rules. (Dated March 26.) 
[Denmark.] 
Octroy for det Kgl. Danske West-Indiske og Guineiske Com- 

pagnie. February 5. Kjobenhavn, 1734. 28 p. 
An abstract of this charter is given in Host, Efterretning . . . , 
pp. 115 et seq. 
[Denmark.] 

Placat om Foringen ved det Kongelige octroierede Danske 
Westjndiskeog Guineiske Compagnie. October 14. Kjoben- 
havn] 1747. "Fol. pat." 
[Danish West India and Guinea Company.] 
Plan og Convention hvorefter det Kongelige Octroyerede Danske 
Westindisk og Guineiske Compagnies Augmentation have 
subscriberet, d. 6 Feb. 1747. Kjobenhavn, 1748. 8 p. 

FOGTMAN, LaURITZ, 

Alphabetisk Register over de Kongelige Rescripter, Resolutioner 
og Collegialbreve, Aar 1660-1800. Kjobenhavn, 1806. 
17 V. 1-2 Part. 
Fogtman, Lauritz. [ed.] 

Kongelige Rescripter, Resolutioner, og Collegial Breve for Dan- 
mark og Norge, 1660-1813. Kjobenhavn, [date ?] v. 
Great Britain: Master of the Rolls. 

Calendar of state papers. Colonial series; America and the 
West Indies. (1669-1708.) Vols. 1-18. 1669-70 -[1706- 
08.] London, 1885-1916. [Cal. Col] ^ 
These volumes contain valuable materials on Anglo-Danish 
relations in the West Indies. 



270 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Host, Georg. 

Efterretning om Oen Sanct Thomas. . . . (See under Second- 
ary Works.) 
Maanedlige Relationer (periodical, Copenhagen) for April and 

June, 1683. 
Contemporary account of Governor Iversen's death, and of 
punishment of responsible mutineers. 
Paludan, Capt. C. F. 

"Blade af de dansk-vestindiske Oers Historic," in Museum 

(Kjobenhavn, 1894), 341-366. 
An account of the St. John slave insurrection of 1733-1734 
and its suppression, illustrated by unpubhshed documents 
from the St. Thomas archives, copied before their removal to 
Copenhagen. 

RORDAM, HOLGER Fr. [ed.] 

" Bidrag til Historieskriveren Anders Hojers Levned," in His- 
torisJce Samlinger og Studier vedr. DanmarJcs Forhold og 
Personligheder iscer i det 17. Aarhundrede, III, 144 et seq. 
Kjobenhavn, 1898. 4 v. 

Of the commission appointed in 1726 to report on the affairs 
of the Danish East India Company, some mention is made. 

RORDAM, HoLGER Fr. 

" Kirkelige Forhold paa St. Croix 1741 og danske Prsester paa 

de vestindiske Oer i Midten af 18. Aarhundre " in KirJcehis- 

toriske Samlinger, ser. 4, v. II. (Kjobenhavn, 1891), 55-100. 

This article includes an interesting letter from the Lutheran 

minister H. J. O. Stoud to President C. A. von Plessen of the 

West India and Guinea Company, dated Jan. 11, 1741, and 

biographical sketches of the Danish Lutheran ministers on 

St. Croix, 1735-1769, and of the ministers on St. Thomas and 

St. John, 1732-1765. 

RoTHE, Casper Peter, [ed.] 

Kong Christian den Femtes skrevne Befalinger og Anordninger, 
eller Rescripter for Norge, Island, Ferroerne og de Indiske 
Besiddelser fra . . . Ode Fehruarii 1670 til . . . 25 Au- 
gusti, 1699. Kjobenhavn, 1777. 2 v. (1153 p.) 
Vol. II, 993 et seq., contains the text of the ordinances, etc., 
issued by Christian V during his reign, and which concerned 
the West Indies and Guinea. 
ScHou, Jacob Henric. [ed.] 

Chronologisk Register over Kongelige Forordninger. . . . 
Kjobenhavn, 1777-1814. 
ScHtJcK, Richard. 

Brandenburg-Preussens Kolonial-Politik . . . (164.7-1721). 
Leipsig, 1889. 2 v. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 271 

Volume II contains many documents bearing on Denmark's 
and Brandenburg's relations with respect to Guinea and West 
India matters. 
[Swedish Ambassadors.] 

Reports in " Danske Samlinger for Historic " (periodical edited 
by Chr. Bruun, O. Nielsen, and A. Peterson). Kjobenhavn, 
1865-1875. 6 vols. 

The letters of Swedish ambassadors at Copenhagen to their 
royal masters afford glimpses of the early career of the Com- 
pany. 

Secondary Works 

Special Works on the Danish Colonies: 
Alberti, C. 

" Den danske Slavehandels Historic," in Nyt historisk Tids- 
skrift, 3 B. (Kjobenhavn, 1^50, 201-245). 

A valuable account, based on^rinted primary and secondary 
material. The author was not permitted to inspect the state 
archive materials. 

BORGESON, F., AND UlDALL, F. P. 

Vore vestindiske Oer. Kjobenhavn, 1900. 55 p. 
Catteau-Calleville, J. R. G. 

Tableau des Etats danois, consideres sous le rapport du me- 
canisme social. Paris, 1802. 3 vol. 
"De danske Atlanterhavsoer." 

"Dansk Vestindien: Naturforhold, Befolkning, Hjselpekilder, 
og Nseringsveje " in "De danske Atlanterhavsoer" Afsnit IV. 
Kjobenhavn, 1908. 300 p. Maps. 
A copiously illustrated, collaborative work, with brief re- 
sumes of early history, but with main emphasis on present 
conditions. Lists of authorities are appended to many of the 
articles. 
Dewitz, a. von. ' 

In Danisch Westindien. Anfange der Briidermission in St. 
Thomas, St. Croix, and St. Jan, von 1732-1760. Herrnhut, 
1899. 322 p. 
Dewitz, A. von. 

In Danisch Westindien. Hundert und funfzig Jahre der 
Briidermission in St. Thomas, St. Croix, und St. Jan. . . . 
Niesky, 1884. 374 p. 
Eggers, H. F. a. Baron. 

" St. Croix's Flora " in Videnskabelige Meddelelserfra Naturhis- 
torisk Forening i Kjobenhavn for Aaret 1876. Kjobenhavn, 
1876. pp. 33-158. 



272 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

An admirable description of St. Croix, particularly from the 
botanical and meteorological points of view, with an exposition 
of historical changes in plant life there. 
Griffin, Appleton Prentiss Clark. 

A list of books on the Danish West Indies. Washington, 1901. 
20 p. 

The only special bibliography on the subject, limited to books 
in Library of Congress. 
Haagensen, Richard. 

Beskrivelse over Eylandet St. Croix i America i Vesiindien. 
Kjobenhavn, 1758, 72 p. 

Probably the earliest printed book describing St. Croix. The 
university and royal libraries in Copenhagen each have MS. 
as well as printed copies. 
Hoffmeyer, H. 

Vor KirJce i Vestindien. Kjobenhavn, 1905. 
Host, Georg. Hersing. 

Efterretninger om den Sand Thomas og dens Gouverneurer, 
optegnede der paa Landetfra 1769 indtil 1776. Kjobenhavn, 
1791. 203 p. 

This is the first attempt at a chronological history of the 
Danish West Indies. The author had access to the Company's 
archives, and used some of the documents for his book. From 
1769 to 1776 he lived in the islands, first as a member of the 
privy council of St. Thomas and St. John, and later, on the 
death of his father-in-law, Governor Jens Kragh, as governor-ac? 
interim for a few months. During 1760-1767 he had served as 
an employee in the Danish factory in Morocco, and on his 
return he became a secretary in the department for foreign 
affairs, under Guldberg. He died in 1794. (Nyerup and Kraft, 
Forfatter-Lexicon, p. 280.) 

ISERT, P. E. 

" Reise nach Guinea und den Carabaischen Inseln," in Colum- 
hien, in Brief en an seine Freunden beschreiben. Kjobenhavn, 
1788. 376 p. 
Although inclined to exaggeration, the author, who had been 
chief physician in the Danish factory in Guinea and had served 
on slave ships, presents a valuable picture of the dark side of the 
slave trade. Letter 12 is headed "Reise von Guinea nach Wes- 
tindien. Zustand eines Sklavenschiffes. Rebellion der Sklaven. 
Beschreibung von St. Croix.^' 
Knox, Hugh. 

A discourse delivered on ths 6 of Sept. 1772 in the Dutch Church 
of St. Croix. On the occasion of the hurricane which hap- 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 273 

fened on the 31 oj Aug. St. Croix, 1772. The copy in the 
Bancroft Collection is incomplete. 
Knox, John P. 

A historical account of St. Thomas, W. I., . . . and incidental 
notices of St. Croix and St. Johns. New York, 1852. 271 p. 
This book has long been practically the only available book 
in English. The first part of it is really a faulty translation of 
Host's work (q. v.), the last, a loose compilation. The author 
was a minister in St. Thomas. 
Koch, Hans Ludvig Schielderup Parelius. 

" Den danske mission i Vestindien," in Kirkehistoriske Sam- 
linger, ser. 5, vol. 3 (Kjobenhavn, 1905), 144-181. 
An account of those missionary efforts begun by the govern- 
ment in 1755. 
Krarup, Janus Fredrik. 

" Jorgen Iversen (Dyppel), Vestindisk Compagnies forste 
Gouverneur paa St. Thomas," in Personalhistorisk Tids- 
skrift, II R. 6 B. (Kjobenhavn, 1891), 23-45. 
An exhaustive study of Governor Iversen's career and the 
planting of the St. Thomas colony, based on a minute examina- 
tion of primary materials in the state archives at Copenhagen. 
Krarup became an assistant in the state archives in 1870, and 
chief secretary in 1882. 
Krarup, Janus Fredrik. 

" Gabriel Milan og Somme af hans Samtid " in Personalhis- 
torisk Tidsskrift, 3 R. 2 B. (Kjobenhavn, 1893), 102-130, 
and 3 R. 3 B. (1894), 1-51. 
A detailed and accurate account of the life of the fourth 
governor of St. Thomas, based upon exhaustive researches in 
the state archives at Copenhagen. 
Lawaetz, H. 

Brodremenighedens Mission: Dansk-Vestindien, 1769-1848. 

Kjobenhavn, 1902. 256 p. 
The main account is prefaced by a good summary of the early 
Moravian missionary efforts in the Danish West Indies. 
Lose, Emil Valdemar. 

"Folkekirken paa St. Thomas" in Kalkars Theologisk Tids- 
skrift (Kobenhavn, 1878), 265-297. 
Lose, Emil Valdemar. 

The Lutheran Church in the West Indies. St. Croix, 1887. 6 p. 
Lose, Emil Valdemar. 

" Kort Udsigt over den danske lutherske Missions Historic 
paa St. CroLX, St. Thomas, og St. Jan," in Nordisk Missions 
Tidsskrift, I (Kjobenhavn, 1890), 1-37. 
This account, according to Pastor L. Koch, is the most au- 



274 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

thoritative one dealing with the history of Danish missions in 

the West Indies. 

Oldendorp, Christian Georg Andreas. 

Geschichte der Mission der evangelischen Briider auf der cara- 
baischen Inseln S. Thomas, S. Croix und S. Jan. Barby, 
1777. 2v. 
Still the most accurate and comprehensive account of the 
early history of the Moravian brethren in the Danish islands. 
[Oldendorp, Christian Georg Andreas]. 
FuldstcBudigt Udtog of C. G. A. OMendorps Missions-Historie 
om den evangelisJce Brodres Mission paa de carahaiske Oer 
St. Thomas, St. Crux og St. Jan. . . . Kjobenhavn, 1784. 
184 p. 
A Danish abridged version of the German edition. 
Oldendorp, Christian Georg Andreas. 

HistorisJc Beretning om de hedenske Neger-Slavers Omvendelse 
paa de dansJce Oer i Vestindien. . . . Kjobenhavn, 1784, 
184 p. 
A translation from the German of part of the author's larger 
work (q. v.). 
[Orsted, Ander S., and others.] 

"De danske vestindiske Oer," in Bergsoe, De7i danske Stats 

Statistik, ^de Bd. (Kjobenhavn, 1853), pp. 557-712. 
A good summary of the history, geography, etc., of the islands, 
based on available published material. The notes give some 
valuable bibliographical hints. 
OxHOLM, Peter Lotharius, 

De danske vestindiske oers Tilstand i Henseende til Population, 
Cultur og Finance-Forfatning i Anledning af nogle Breve 
fra St. Croix. . . . Kjobenhavn, 1797. 84 p. 
A careful study of the sugar industry on St. Croix based on 
personal observation; contains four plans and an appended 
statistical table. 
[Anonymous. Answer to Oxholm. (q. v.).] 

Berigtigelsen ved Hr. Major Oxholms Skrift om de danske Oers 
Tilstand. Kjobenhavn, 1798. 30 p. 
Oxholm, Peter Lotharius. 

Urigtighederne i de saakaldte Berigtigelser ved Afhandlingen 
om de danske vestindiske Oers Tilstand. Kjobenhavn, 1798. 
23 p. 
An answer to Berigtigelsen. . . . 
Petersen, Bernhardt von. 

En historisk Beretning om de dansk-vestindiske Oer St. Croix, 

St. Thomas og St. Jan. Kjobenhavn, 1855. 
Mainly a translation of Knox's work, checked up by some 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 275 

reference to Host. His name is not to be found among those of 

the nobiUty. 

RoHR, Julius Philip Benjamin von. 

Anmerkungen iiber den Cattunbau. Mil einer Vorrede von 
P. G. Hensler. Altona und Leipzig, 1791-1793. 2 parts. 

Part 1: "Zum Nutzen der Danischen Wesiindischen Colonien 
auf Allerhochsten Koniglichen Befehl geschrieben." 
RoTHE, Dr. C. 

Lidt om Vestindien. Kjobenhavn, 1900. 55 pp. 

A patriotic appeal against the sale of the islands; a brief but 
fairly accurate historical summary is included. 
Schmidt, J. C. 

[Articles on St. Croix] in Samleren, v. II (Kjobenhavn, 1788), 
198-206; 214-250; 259-263. 

A series of articles by a visitor describing plantation life on 
St. Croix. 
Taylor, Charles Edward. 

Leaflets from the Danish West Indies; descriptive of the social, 
political, and commercial condition of these islands. London, 
1888. 228 p. 

One of the few writers who has made use of archival material 
for the early history of St. Thomas. The author was a physician 
and book-dealer in St. Thomas, and had access to the Company's 
archives before their removal to Copenhagen. 
Trier, C. A. 

" Det dansk-vestindiske Negerindeforselsforbud af 1792," in 
Historisk Tidsskrift, ser. 7, v. 5 (Kjobenhavn, 1904-1905), 
405-508. 

A scholarly study of the edict abolishing the slave trade in 
Danish dominions, a^nd of the circumstances leading up to it. 
United States. 

Fifty-seventh Congress, first session. House document, vol. 47 
(Washington, 1902), 2767-2847. 

A geographical and historical description of the islands com- 
piled by Oscar Phelps Austin and drawn mainly from Knox and 
Host; summary of commercial conditions since 1884; extracts 
from consular reports, histories, etc., including Prof. C. W. 
Tooke's article in the Amer. Econ. Assoc, report for 1900 
(pp. 2782 et seq.), a concise summary of the administrative ar- 
rangements. The treaty of 1902 with Denmark is quoted and 
the various efforts at purchase by the U. S. traced out and 
illustrated with documents (pp. 2788 et seq.). 
Werfel, Johannes. 

Efterretning om de danske-vestindiske Oers St. Croix's, St. 
Thomas's og St. Jan's. Kjobenhavn, 1801. 



276 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

West, Hans. 

" Beretning om det danske Eiland St. Croix i Vestindien, fra 
Juniimaaned 1789 til Juniimaaneds Udgang 1790," in 
Maanedskriftet Iris (Kjobenhavn) Julii 1791, pp. 1-88. 
An article on plantation economy in the Danish islands, 
based on a brief stay there as rector of a school. This article 
was expanded into the book "... Beskrivelse over St. Croix 
. . ." (1793). 
West, Hans. 

Bidrag til Beskrivelse over Ste. Croix, med en kort udsigt over 
St. Thomas, St. Jean. Tortola, Spanishtown, og Crabeneiland. 
Kjobenhavn, 1793. 363 p. 
An enlarged edition appeared in a German translation in 
1794. 

General Works on Danish and West Indian History: 

Allen, C. F. 

Histoire de Danemark. . . . (E. Beauvois, tr.). Copenhague, 
1878. 2v. 

This work has been superseded, especially in its treatment of 
economic history, by the more recent work of Professor Edward 
Holm {q. v.). 
[Anonymous.] 

The Importance of the British plantations in America to this 
kingdom . . . considered. London, 1731. 114 p. 

"Santa Croce" (St. Croix) is mentioned as being abandoned, 
and St. Thomas as remarkable only for its harbor, which is a 
free port, and for smuggling {cf. Macpherson, Annals, III, 161). 
[Anonymous]. 

The Present state of the West Indies, containing an accurate 
description of what parts are possessed by the several powers in 
Europe. . . . London, 1788. 95 p. 

Pp. 72-74, Virgin Islands; pp. 93-94, Danish Islands. 
Bonnassieux, Jean Louis Pierre Marie. 

Les grandes compagnies de commerce. Paris, 1892. 562 p. 

A cursory review of the activities of the Danish West India 
and Guinea Company (p. 441) and of the Danish African Com- 
pany (pp. 442-443), based largely on Beausobre's work (1791). 
BuRNEY, James. 

History of the Buccaneers of America. London, 1816. 326 p. 

Mentions St. Thomas as a "Danish factory" (p. 300) plun- 
dered by " Flibustiers " from Hispaniola in 1688 (cf. Labat). 
Cheyney, Edward Potts. 

European background of American history: 1300-1600, in 



BIBLIOGRAPHl' 277 

American Nation ser. A. B. Hart ed. New York and 
London, 1904. 343 p. 

List of commercial companies, 1554-1698, pp. 137-139. 
Davies, John. 

The history of the Caribby-I stands, viz. Barbados, St. Chris- 
tophers, St. Vincents, Martinico, etc., etc., . . . in all 
XXVIII. London, 1666. 2 v. 

St. Croix under the French in I, 28. 
Dessalles, Adrian. 

Histoire generate des Antilles. Paris, 1847. 3 v. 

Brief mention of the Danish islands. 
Douglass, William. 

A summary, historical and political, of the first planting, pro- 
gressive improvements, and present state of the British settlements 
in North America. Boston, 1755. 3 v. 

Pp. 140-141: St. Thomas and St. John. 
Du Tertre, Le R. p. Jean-Baptiste. 

Histoire generate des Antilles habitees par les Francois. Paris, 
1667-1671. 4 vols, in three. 

Contains a map of St. Croix under the French (1671); a 
valuable work for the history of the Danish islands previous to 
Danish occupation. 
Edwards, Bryan. 

The history, civil and commercial, of the British colonies in the 
West Indies. London, 1793. 2 v. 

Makes a bare mention of the Danish possessions. St. John 
"is of importance as having the best harbour of any island to 
the leeward of Antigua;" while St. Croix is notable for its sugar 
smuggling (I, 458-459). 
Fiske, Amos Kidder. 

The West Indies ... in Story of the Nations ser. New 
York, 1902. 414 p. 

Pp. 293-301 : the Danish islands. 
Fridericia, J. A. See Steenstrup. 
Froude, James Anthony. 

The English in the West Indies. . . . New York, 1908. 550 p. 
GiGAs, Emil. 

Grev Bernardino de Rebolledo, spansk Gesandt i Kjobenhavn, 
16^8-1659. Kjobenhavn, 1883. 413 p. 
Haring, Clarence Henry. 

The buccaneers in the West Indies in the XVII century. New 
York, 1910. 298 p. 

The relations of early Danish governors in the West Indies 
(the Esmits and Iversen) to the pirates there is discussed in a 



278 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

rather one-sided account based solely upon the Calendar of 
State Papers, Colonial, West Indies. 
Holm, Edvabd. 

Danmarks-N orges Indre Historic, under Enevoldenfra 1660 til 
1720. Kjobenhavn, 1885. 2 v. 

All of Professor Holm's work is based on a careful study of 
first-hand material. His treatment of economic problems is 
especially thorough. 
Holm, Edvaed. 

Den Dansk-Norske Stats Historie fra 1720 til 1814- Kjoben- 
havn. 
Holm, Edvard. See Steenstrup. 
Jameson, John Franklin. 

" St. Eustatius in the American Revolution," in The American 
Historical Review, VIII (New York, 1903), pp. 683-708. 

St. Croix is reported to be the first foreign port to salute the 
American flag (p. 691). 
Johnston, Sir Harry H. 

The negro in the New World. New York, 1910. 499 p. 

"Slavery under the Danes" (344-351) is a brief, inaccurate 
resume of the history of Danish slave trade and West Indian 
colonization. 
Keller, Albert Galloway. 

Colonization. New York, 1908. 630 p. 

Although mainly based on secondary works, this is the most 
recent and reliable summary in English on the Danish islands 
(497-508). The book is provided with a bibliography. 
Koch, Hans Ludvig Schielderup Parelius. 

Kong Christian den Siettes Historie. Kjobenhavn, 1886. 354 p. 
Labat, Jean Baptiste. 

Nouveau voyage aux isles de V Amerique. ... A la Haye, 
1724. 2v. 4°. 

The author was a cheerful, if not very accurate, Jesuit priest 
who visited St. Croix after its abandonment by the French in 
1695 or 1696, and St. Thomas in 1700. He gives a lively de- 
scription of the Danish and Brandenburg factories. 
Ledru, Andre Pierre. 

Voyage aux isles de Teneriffe, la Trinite, Saint-Thomas, Saint- 
Croix et Porto-Rico, execute far ordre du gouvernement 
Frangais depuis le 30 Septemhre, 1796 jusquau 7 juin, 1798, 
contenant des observations, etc. Paris, 1810. 2 v. Folded 
map. 

Pp. 160-188 of the German translation of 1812 contains a 
description of the Danish West Indies. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 279 

Leroy-Beaulieu, Pierre Paul. 

De la colonisation chez les fewples modernes. Paris, 1902, 
2 V. 

A brief account of Danish West Indian colonization (Vol. I, 
pp. 182-186). 
Macpherson, David. 

Annals of commerce, manufactures, fisheries, and naviga- 
tion. . . . London, 1805. 4 v. 

This compilation, gleaned from many sources, has a number 
of extracts, including quotations from treaties, dealing with 
the Danish islands. 
Martel, Henri. 

Etude pratique sur les colonies anciennes et modernes et sur 
leurs grandes compagnies commerciales. Ghent, 1898. 
355 p. 

Pp. 332, 335: Danish West Indies. 
Martin, Robert Montgomery. 

History of the West Indies, comprising Jamaica, Honduras, 
Trinidad, . . . and the Virgin Isles. London, 1836. 2 v. 

Vol. 1, pp. 288-312: Virgin Isles, especially Tortola. 
Morris, Henry Crittenden. 

The history of colonization from the earliest times to the present 
day. New York, 1900. 2 v. 

The few pages (284-286) devoted to the Danish West Indian 
colonies are full of errors and misstatements. The work bears 
evidence of hasty compilation. A revised edition has recently 
appeared. 
Nathanson, M. L. 

Historisk-statistisk Fremstilling of Danmarks National-og 
Stats-Huusholdning fra Frederick den Fjerdes Tid indtil 
Nutiden. Kjobenhavn, 1844. 2d ed. revised. 1062 p. 

Numerous comments on the West Indian and Guinea trade, 
with statistics drawn from Thaarup, and other sources; par- 
ticularly valuable for period after 1765. 
Nielsen, Oluf. 

Kjobenhavns Historic og Beskrivelse. . . . Kjobenhavn, 1871- 
1792. 6v. 

A rehable history of Copenhagen, based on careful study of 
first hand materials and giving due emphasis to the economic 
development of the city. The interest of Copenhagen mer- 
chants in the India trade is brought out. 
d'Orbigny, M. Alcide. 

Voyage dans les deux Ameriques. Paris, 1854. 615 p. 

A paragraph mentioning St. Thomas's position as a free port, 
smuggHng, trade, etc. (p. 31). 



080 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Payne, Edward John. 

History of European colonies. London, 1877. 408 p. 
Pflug, Henrich Ovesen. 

Den Danske Pillegrim. Kbhn., 1707. 

A discursive work, containing descriptions of many parts of 
the world. It gives an account of the dispute concerning Crab 
Island, in which Danes, Spaniards and English participated. 
Quoted in Host, 16, 79. 
Pontoppidan, Erik. 

Origines Hafniensis, etc. Kjobenhavn, 1760. 
Raynal, Guillaume-Thomas. 

A philosophical and political history of the settlements and trade 
of the Europeans in the East and West Indies. London, 1798. 
6 V. 

Vol. 4, 256-265, Danish settlements in St. Thomas, St. John 
and Santa Cruz. Translated from the French. 
Rodway, James. 

The West Indies and the Spanish Main. London and New 
York, 1896. 371 p. 

Pp. 238-240; St. Thomas, brief historical sketch. 
[Royal Society.] 

Philosophical Transactions and Collections. London, 1700- 
1701. 
An account of the Darien expedition which touched at St. 
Thomas in 1698. See also Host, pp. 39 et seq. 

SCHLEGEL, JoHAN FrEDERIK WiLHELM. 

Statistisk Beskrivelse af defornemste europceiske Stater. I Del. 

Kjobenhavn, 1793. 
This work corresponds closely to that of Thaarup 
(g. v.). 
ScHtJCK, Richard. 

Brandenhurg-Preussens Kolonial-Politik. . . . (1647-1721). 

Leipsig, 1889. 2 v. 
A minute exposition of the colonial policy of the Great Elector 
and his immediate successors, based on an extensive study of 
the archival materials in Berlin, Emden, and Aurich. The 
main defect in the work, so far as concerns the author's treat- 
ment of the Brandenburg African Company's experience at 
St. Thomas, is due to his failure to consult the Danish West 
India and Guinea Company's archives in Copenhagen. 
Smith, Adam. 

An inquiry into the nature and cause of the wealth of nations. 

Oxford, 1880. 2 v. (2nd ed., by J. E. T. Rogers.) 
Pp. 149-150: the Danish West Indian colonies are cited to 
show the evils of government by an exclusive company. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 281 

SouTHEY, Capt. Thomas. 

Chronological history of the West Indies. London, 1827. 3 v. 

A compilation from many works of many sorts, quite regard- 
less of their reliability. The direct quotations from treaties and 
other primary documents are of value. 
Steenstrup, Johannes, and others. 

Danmarks Riges Historie. Kjobenhavn [1897-1907]. 6 v. 
and index. 

This cooperative history of Denmark is an authoritative 
summary by modern Danish scholars, each of whom is a spe- 
ciaHst in his particular field. Vol. IV (1588-1699) is by Prof. 
J. A. Fridericia, and Vol. V by Prof. Edvard Holm. The latter 
has paid considerable attention to the East and West India 
companies and has not hesitated to make use of their records 
in his study. 
Thaarup, Frederick. 

Veiledning til det Danske Monarkies Statistik. Kjobenhavn, 
1794. 2ded. 767 p. 

This work appeared in a number of new editions during the 
next quarter century. It presents a considerable body of 
bibliographical, statistical, and descriptive material (pp. 420- 
443). 

WiNTERBOTHAM, W. 

An historical, geographical, commercial and philosophical view 
of the United States of America, and of the European settle- 
ments in America and the West Indies. New York, 1812. 
(1st Am. ed.) 4 v. 

Vol. IV, pp. 329-330: Danish West Indies. 

Maps and Illustrations 

(Unpublished) 

"Carte des konigl. Danischen Westindische Eilandes St. 
Thomas unter den [ ] Grad. [ ] Minut. nordlicher Breite 
belegen." Size: 28 x 48 cm. 
This undated manuscript map of St. Thomas appears on the 
same sheet with the map of St, Croix listed below. It was 
probably made between 1715 and 1730. It is the earliest known 
map showing St. Thomas under Danish possession, and is here 
reproduced for the first time. (Royal Library, Copenhagen.) 
"Carte De LTsle De Sainte Croix Danoise situee sous le 
18me m. de Lat. Septen." Size: 28 x 48 cm. 
This map, the names on which are written in the same hand 
as in the preceding map, has in its upper left-hand corner the 
following legend: "Maison de Monsieur du Bois dernier Vice 



282 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Gouverneur de I'isle pour sa Majes. tres Chr6tieiine Tan 1734." 
From this, it would appear that the island was occupied when 
the Danes came over to take it in full possession in January, 
1735. As there is no evidence indicating occupation, however, 
it is possible that the map is misdated. 

"KoRT over Etlandet St. Croix udi America Saaledes som 
det ved en acurat udmaaling er hejunden med Qvarterernes 
Navne og enhver Plantagies Nummer . . . tegnet af I. M. 
Beck." Size: 47 x 72.5 cm. 

This map was engraved in 1754 and dedicated to Adam 
Gotlob Moltke. On a copy in the Royal Library, on which is 
written "Saaledes befunden i July Maaned 1766," is to be found 
filled in ink the names of all the plantation owners and the 
locations of the sugar mills. The plans of the towns "Chris- 
tianstsed" and " Fredericksstsed " are inserted in the engraving. 
(Royal Library.) 
"Af Teigning ojr. St. Croussis Bye." 

This crude, undated representation of "St. Croix's town" 
was apparently made shortly after the occupation of the island, 
and intended to show the appearance of Christiansted. (State 
Archives.) 

" Forestilling af Wcerfet paa Oen St. Croix i Westindien . . . 
forfoerdiget af H. G. Beenfeldt 1815." 

Although made long after the Company's dissolution, the 
lively scene on the Christiansted waterfront at St. Croix is 
fairly typical of the eighteenth century on that island. The 
sailing ships riding at anchor in the harbor, the fort, the bat- 
teries, and the provision houses, the red-coated soldiers and the 
negroes with their burdens, the white aristocrats in their car- 
riages or on horseback, the sugar casks piled up on the square, 
even the ubiquitous goat and the humble mule, — all are typical 
of St. Croix in its palmy days. Vessels flying the flag of the 
United States may be seen in the harbor. (State Archives.) 



Early Printed Maps 

(Eighteenth Century) 

"Die Insel Sanct Thomas mil den mehresten Plantagen 1767." 
"Die Insel Sainte Croix mit den Namen der Plantagen die 
bestoendig sind . . . 1767." 
These two maps, engraved by Paul Ktiffner of Nuremberg, 
are to be found in Oldendorp's Geschichte der Mission (listed 
among the printed works above) . Both show locations of plan- 
tations and mills. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 283 

OxHOLM, Peter Lotharius. Charte over den Danske Oe St. 

Croix i America forfaerdiget i Aaret 1794- og udgivet i Aaret 

1799. . . . Size: 67 x 174 cm. 
Oxholm's map (engraved by G. N. Angelo, Copenhagen) 
was reproduced by Laurie and Whittle of London in 1804. The 
legend on the English map is misleading in that it states that 
the map is made "From an actual survey made in 1794-1799." 
Another edition of the Oxholm map was published by the 
Hydrographical office in London on March 1, 1831. 
Oxholm, P. L. Charte over den Danske Oe St. Jan i America 

Optaget i Aaret 1780, og Udgivet i Aaret 1800. . . . Size: 60 

X 98.5 cm. 

Maps Printed Since 1800 

HoRNBECK, H. B. St. Thomas Dansk Americansk optaget i 
1835-39 ved Barometer og Vinkel Maaling . . . tegnet i 18^5 
af J. Chr. Petersen Tegner ved Sokaart Archivet. 
This map is reproduced in J. P. Knox, Historical account of 
St. Thomas. 

"De DANSKE Atlanterhaysoer " (publ.). Kort over Dansk 
Vestindien. 
Maps of all three islands are printed in Afsnit IV, Dansk 
Vestindien (Kjobenhavn, 1908). 

BORGESEN, F. 

Map of the Danish West Indian Islands. 
Reproduced in Botanisk Tidsskrift. Bd. 29. The reefs and 
depths of surrounding waters are indicated. 
Eggers, H. F. a. (Baron). " Vegetationskort over St. Croix," 
in Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra Naturhistorisk Forening i 
Kjobenhavn for Aaret 1876. 
A map showing the distribution of vegetation on St. Croix. 



i 



APPENDIXES 
APPENDIX A 

GOVERNORS IN THE WEST INDIES AND IN GUINEA 

(1) GOVEHNOB8 IN THE WEST INDIES FROM THE BEGINNING, IN THE 

TEAB 16711 

In the West Indies, the first governor who took possession 
of the island of St. Thomas on May 25, 1672, was 

JoRGEN IvERSEN, who was succeeded by 

NicoLAi EsMiT, who received his appointment on Septem- 
ber 10, 1679, and was deposed by 

Adolph Esmit, his brother, who was to have been relieved 
by Jorgen Iversen, who again started out [for the West Indies] 
in November, 1682, on the ship Hafmanden (Merman), where 
he was killed by mutineers, whereupon the said Adolph Esmit 
was supplanted by 

Gabriel Milan, who was appointed in 1684; but because of 
bad conduct, Gabriel Milan and Adolph Esmit were sent home 
as prisoners by Commissioner Michel Michelsen, and [they] 
arrived here in October, 1686, and meantime 

Christopher Heins was vice governor until March, 1688, 
when 

Adolph Esmit again arrived in St. Thomas and took com- 
mand, having gone thither in the ship Maria [under the com- 
mand of] vice admiral Hoppe, but vice admiral Hoppe took 
him home a prisoner and arrived here in October, 1688, so that 

Christopher Heins again became vice governor until 1690 
[when] he died and was succeeded by 

JoHAN LoRENSEN.2 In that year the lesseeship [of St. 
Thomas] began under Jorgen Thormohlen, who installed 

Frans de la Vigne as governor of St. Thomas, but Johan 
Lorentz remained in the meanwhile as vice governor and 
looked out for the Company's interests, also made a journey 
home, during the period of the lease, and went out again [to 

1 From P. Manager, Historisk Efterretning . . . pp. 213 et seq. The spell- 
ing of proper names employed by Manager is followed here. This work is 
dated 1753, hence was compiled nearly two years before the Company's dissolu- 
tion. The translation is avowedly literal. 

- Rendered as John Lorentz in text. 

[285] 



286 APPENDIX A 

St. Thomas], and remained as vice governor until February 19, 
1702, when he died and was succeeded by 

Claus Hansen, who was advanced on the spot [to governor] 
ad interim, and was confirmed [by the directors remaining in 
oflSce] until his death, February 8, 1706, when 

JocHUM VON HoLTEN succeeded him [and remained in office] 
until December 21, 1708, when he died. His place was taken by 
the interim commandant 

DiDERicH MoGENSEN, who was relieved in 1710 by 

Michel Crone, who died August 8, 1716, and was succeeded 

by 

Erich Bredal, in whose time the island of St. John was 
occupied. He was succeeded in April, 1724, by 

Friderich Moth » who was succeeded late in May, 1727, by 

Hendrich Suhm, "Commandeur Capitain" who came from 
Fort Christiansborg in Guinea, and untU February 21, 1733, he 
remained on St. Thomas when he was relieved by 

Phillip Gardelin in whose time, namely in the above year, 
1733, the rebellion of negroes on St. John began. Later, on 
February 21, 1736, his place was taken by 

Friderich Moth, who became governor of the island of St. 
Croix on June 12, 1734, which island was occupied by him in 
that same year, and [who] was, on February 21, 1736, made 
governor general of aU the Company's three islands, St. Thomas, 
St. John and St. Croix, [remaining] until April 13, 1744, when 
he was succeeded by 

Christian Schweder, who was commissioned as command- 
ant of the fort (Castellet) and Christiansfort on St. Thomas 
and St. John, and head ^ of the privy council in matters affect- 
ing all three islands; and he was relieved on April 25, 1747, by 

Christian Suhm, who was installed as vice commandant and 
governor over St. Thomas and St. John, and head of the privy 
council of St. Croix, but later in the same year he was exempted 
from [his] St. Croix duties, since a governor and privy council 
have been placed over St. Croix alone, so that he is still vice 
commandant and governor of the islands St. Thomas and St. 
John in the West Indies. 

On St. Croix, on the other hand, there have been since the 
beginning of the year 1734: 

Friderich Moth, and during his absence 

Gregers Hog Nissen was named on February 24, 1736, as 

•^Otto Jacob Thambsen served as governor for a few months after Bredal. 
See above, p. 184. 
* "Forste Stemme." 



APPENDIX A 287 

"chief" ad interim^ and judge on the said [island of] St. Croix, 
[where he continued] until April 16, 1744, when he was replaced 

by 

Paul Lindemark, who was likewise "chief" ad interim, and 
treasurer on St. Croix in Commandant Schweder's absence. 
He continued until May 15, 1747, when his place was taken by 

Jens Hansen, who was commissioned as governor of St. 
Croix in the same year, [in which position he remained] until 
December, 1751, when he was relieved by 

Peder Clausen, who is still governor on the said island of 
St. Croix. 

(2) GOVERNORS IN GUINEA FROM THE YEAR 1650 ^ 

So far as is known from the account of H[artwig] Meyer ^ to 
the Company, hereinbefore referred to, 

Henning Abrecht appears in the year 1650 to have estab- 
lished a "lodge" on the Guinea coast near Ac[c]ra, and to have 
resided 18 [Danish.?] miles from that place at the Danish cita- 
del,8 Friderichsberg, which lodge was, in 1659, made into a 
small fort at which there was placed in charge 

Christian Cornelisen as factor, and [who] had it changed 
to a fortress, which is now Christiansborg, after which 

Peter Valck is said to have been in command of the fort, 
Fredericksberg, but, because of his bad conduct, held as a slave 
by the black king; and 

Peter Bolt the then factor, did in the year 1679 in traitorous 
fashion sell the fort Christiansborg to the Portuguese nation, 
thereafter fleeing from the coast of Guinea. 

Magnus Pranger arrived at Fort Friderichsberg in Guinea, 
from Copenhagen, in February, 1681, bringing with him his 
majesty's orders to the then provisional commander, Peter 
Vitth and commissioner Johan Ulrich, as well as [to] all those 
who were in authority, to the effect that they were to seize the 
forts Fridericksberg and Christiansborg together with the lodges 
in Guinea, [and they] bestirred themselves to retake the said 
fort, Christiansborg, from the Portuguese, but in vain; mean- 
time Magnus Pranger died in that same year, 1681, and was 
succeeded by 

^ As Interims Cheff Nissen was to officiate in Governor Moth's place during 
the latter's absence. 

^ P. Manager, Historisk Efterretning . . . . The peculiar form of these lists 
has made a rather literal translation seem desirable. 

' Ibid. pp. 75 et seq. Cf. above, p. 21. 

* Hoved Castell. 



288 APPENDIX A 

CoNEAD BuscH, chicf factor, who remained but 10 days at 
the helm of the government of Fort Friderichsberg, when, be- 
cause of his bad conduct, he was replaced by 

Hans Lucke, lieutenant at said fort, Friderichsberg, [and] 
who, after the Portuguese had, in 1682, acting on royal orders, 
abandoned it, took possession of Fort Christiansborg in the 
Company's name, and placed in charge there 

Peter Hofman, factor, who had come out from Gliickstad 
to Guinea; and Fort Friderichsberg was sold by the above Hans 
Lticke and Peter Hofman to the English commandant at Cape 
Cors, who took it into possession in the year 1685, whereupon 
Liicke, together with Hofman and Lorens Lassen came to 
Christiansborg. Thereafter Lyke (Liicke) died and Hofman » 
and Lassen returned to Denmark so that 

NicoLAi Fensman in the year 1688 became governor at the 
fort of Christiansborg after which 

JoRGEN Meyer, [who had been appointed] commander [in] 
1691, for and by Nicolai Jansen Arf[f], took possession of Fort 
Christiansborg, and in 1692, Nicolai Fensman again came out 
[to Guinea] in Nicolai Jansen Arf[f]'s service, but returned, and 
thereafter 

Harding Peterson was made governor. In the same year, 
1693, because of said Harding Petersen's careless supervision, 
the fort was taken by the blacks. But when two of Nicolai 
Jansen Arf[f]'s ships came out, the merchants who accompanied 
them, Hartwig Meyer and Johan Trane, concluded a treaty by 
which Fort Christiansborg was delivered back to them, whereupon 

Thomas Jacobsen was installed as governor; and when 
Nicolai Jansen Arff abandoned the trade, 

Erich Olsen Lygaard was in the year 1698 placed as gov- 
ernor of said Christiansborg in the name of the Company, as it 
had taken up the Guinea trade; and he was relieved by 

Johan Trane, who left here in August, 1698, and was suc- 
ceeded by 

Hartvig Meyer, who left here in August, 1702 [and re- 
mained there] until April, 1704, when he died and was succeeded 
ad interim by 

Peder Sverdrup who likewise died, in May, 1705, when he 
was succeeded by 

Peder Pedersen. Meantime, in order to release Hartvig 
Meyer, there was sent out from here once more 

Erich Olsen Lygaard, who left Copenhagen in December, 
1704, [and] who died, and was succeeded by 

" Derefter dode Lyke og Hofman og Lassen repair ierede saa at . . . 



APPENDIX A 289 

Frans Boye, who in the year 1711 departed over Holland or 
England to relieve the said Lygaard; and he was in turn re- 
lieved in 1717 by 

Knud Rost, who died and was succeeded by 

David Herbn, who left in the capacity of factor on Janu- 
ary 22, 1723, [and] into whose place advanced, ad interim 

Christian Synderman, who was relieved in April, 1724, by 

Hendrich Suhm, " Commandeur Capitain," who was sent 
to St. Thomas and sailed thither March 4, 1727, 

Frederick Pahl advancing into his place, and shortly there- 
after dying. The latter was followed ad interim by 

Andreas Willumsen, who was succeeded on December 24, 
1728, by 

Andreas Pedersen Waeroe, who was to have been relieved 
by "Cammer Raad" Andreas Jorgensen, who left in June, 
1733, but [who] died en route, so that he [Waeroe] remained 
until August 12, 1735, when his place was taken by 

Severin Schiellerop, councilor of chancery, i" who died 
June 15, 1736, and was succeeded ad interim by 

Enevold Nielsen Borris, who died June 20, 1740, and was 
succeeded ad interim by 

Peter Nicolai Jorgensen, who, on May 25, 1743, gave up 
his position to 

Christian Glob Dorph who was relieved by 

JoRGEN BiLLSEN on February 3, 1744, and when, on March 
11, 1745, he died, he was succeeded ad interim by 

Thomas Broek, who died on the 23rd [of March, and] on 
whose place there stepped ad interim 

JoHAN Wilder, who died April 23, 1745, and likewise was 
succeeded ad interim by 

August Friderich Hackenburg, whose place was taken in 
June 21, 1746, by 

Joost Platfus, who was relieved on March 6, 1751, by 

Magnus Christopher Lutzow, Major, who arrived at the 
fort of Christiansborg on March 6, 1751, and passed away on 
the 8th of the same month, when he was succeeded ad interim 

by 

Magnus Hachsen, who died July 21, 1752, and was followed 
ad interim by 

Carl Engman, who is now governor ad interim of Fort 
Christiansborg in Guinea, 

^° Cancellie Raad. 



APPENDIX B 

DIRECTORS AND BOARD OF SHAREHOLDERS IN COPENHAGEN 
DIRECTORS OP THE COMPANY ' 

Name Appointed Term closed 

Jens Juel Mar. 11, 1671 1681 

Peder Pedersen Lerke " " Mar. (.") 1680 

Hans Nansen " " " " 

Herman Meyer 2 Apr. 7,1680 July 1,1681 

Peder Bladt " " " 

Mauritz van der Thy ^ " " " " 

Claus Sohn " " " 

Herman(?) Meyer July 1, 1681 1682 

Hans Nansen " " 

Edvard Hoist " 

Jens Juel 1682 1700 

Albert Gyldensparre « " 1697 (?) 

Jorgen Ehlers 6 1688 1697 (?) 

IverHoppe " 1697 (?) 

Jens Juel 1697 

Mathias Moth [before 1697] 

Kristian Braem ^ 1697 

Jochum F. Rohde " 

Johan Gotf ried Becker " 

Jacob Lerke 

Kristian Schupp May 28, 1700 

Karl Ahlefeldt. May 7, 1703 

Laurens de Boysset Sept. 12, 1712 

Frederik Rostgaard " " 

Kristen Berregaard Jan. 11, 1723 

Ferdinand Anthon " " 

Severin Junge Dec. 4, 1727 

^ Modern Danish usage has been followed as far as possible in the spelling of 
the proper names here listed. Many of the names are of men prominent in 
Danish-Norwegian history, whose biographies may be found in Dansk Biog- 
rafisk Lexikon, edited by C. F. Bricka. 

2 Meyer and his three colleagues were elected ad interim. 

' Or Morits V. de Thee. 

* Albert Schumacher, a brother of Griffenfeld. 

* Or Elers. 

^ Braem, Rohde, Becker and Lerke were merely "acting directors." 

[290] 



APPENDIX B 291 

Name Appointed Term closed 

Hans Jbrgen Soelberg Dec. 4, 1727 

Abraham Klocker " " 

Gregorius Klauman June 16, 1730 

Ferdinand Anthon (Laurwigen) 1732 Sept. 12, 1732 

Severin [de] Junge ^ " 

Kristen Berregaard " 

Hans J. Soelberg " 

Gregorius Klauman " 

Otto Blome, chairman Sept. 26, 1733 

Severin [dej Junge 

Thomas Bartholin 

Frederik Holmsted 

F[rederik] Seckman 

H.J. Soelberg 

Gregorius Klauman 

Emst Ulrick Dose Apr. 14, 1735 

Lorens Kreyer ^ " " 

Karl Adolf von Plessen Sept. 10, 1735 

Adolf Andreas von der Liihe Nov. 17, 1736 

Peter Lemvig Dec. 28, 1737 

Jacob Kling " " 

Herman L. Klocker May 9, 1741 

Johan Frederik Wewer Mar. 18, 1747 

Joost von Hemert " " 

Andreas Biom " " 

[Gotthilf] Just Fabritius » " 

Adam Gotlob Moltke i» Mar. 3, 1750 

Johannes Valeur ^^ Sept. 14, 1751 

DIRECTORS OF THE SUGAR REFiNERT ^^ 

F. Seckman 1729 1734 

G. Klauman " " 

H. J. Soelberg " " 

F. Holmsted 1735 Dec. 28, 1737 

G. Klauman " " 



^ Junge received his patent of nobility in 1731. 

^ Or Laurents Kreyer. 

' Resigned very soon after his appointment. 

^° ProBses or chairman. 

" When Manager wrote (1753), the directors were Moltke, Klocker, Wewer, 
Hemert, and Valeur. 

^^ The management of the refinery was taken over by all the directors of the 
Company on March 9, 1750. 



292 APPENDIX B 

Name Appointed Term closed 

F. Holmsted 1737 Mar. 3, 1750 

G. Klauman " " " 

P. Lemvig " " " 

BOARD OP SHAREHOLDERS OP THE COMPANT 

{Hovedpartidpanter) 

Kort Adder Mar. 11, 1671 1679 

Frederik Poggenberg " " " 

Niels Juel Sept. 1679 July 1, 1681 

Claus Sohn " " " '' 

[Mikkel] Wibe July 1, 1681 

Meyer " " 

Gregorius Fleischer " " 

Jens Tolder (Rosenheim) Dec. " 

[Jorgen] Ehlers 1' " 

Abraham Wust " " 

WUhelm Mule " 1697 

Paul Winding " 

Peder Lemvig " 

Paul Eggers " 

Laurens de Boyssett Apr. 29, 1698 Sept. 12, 1712 

Vincens Lerke June 26, 1703 

Kasper G. von Moltke May, 1704 

Kristen Berregaard May 1, 1713 Jan. 11, 1723 

Severin Junge " " Dec. 4, 1727 

Olaus Judicher Jan. 11, 1723 

Hans J. Soelberg " " Dec. 4,1727 

Abraham Klocker " " 

Gregorius Klauman i^ Mar. 13, 1728 June 16, 1730 i 

[Frederik] Seckman " " 

Urban Bruun " " 

Frederik Holmsted ^^ Apr. 7, 1728 j 

K. A. von Plessen Sept. 26, 1733 | 

Ernst Ulrik Dose " " April, 1735 | 

Laurents Kreyer " " 

Peter Lemvig " " Dec., 1737 

Herman Lengerken Klocker " " * May, 1741 I 

Adolf Andreas v. d. Luhe Apr. 14, 1735 Nov., 1736 

" Or Elers. 

i< Or MuUe. 

^^ The sugar refinery was united with the Company and managed by a com- 
mittee of the directors. Soelberg and Klauman were elected on October 7. 

" Reappointed in 1732. 



APPENDIX B 29S 

Name Appointed Term closed 

Jacob Kling Apr. 14, 1735 Dec, 1737 

Hans Gram Nov. 17. 1736 

Johannes Valeur. . Dec. 28, 1737 Sept. 14, 1751 

Iver Jentofft " " 

Frans Fseddesen " " 

Kristian Lucas Klauman Mar. 9, 1741 

[Kristian] Stockfleth Mar. 3, 1750 

Jesper Richardt " " 

OlufBlach " 

Peter Boertman Feb. 24, 1751 

Adam Christian Oelgod " " 

Lyder Schilderop ^^ Sept. 14, 1751 

" At the time that Mariager wrote (1753) the board of shareholders consisted 
of Blach, Boertman, Oelgod, and Schilderop. 



APPENDIX C 

THE FIRST CHARTER OF THE DANISH WEST INDIA COMPANY ^ 

On March 11, 1671, by a charter most graciously granted by 
his royal Majesty, King Christian the Fifth, the Company was 
established for the benefit of commerce and for the general wel- 
fare which thereon depends. . . . 

In the said . . . charter the Company is graciously per- 
mitted to have, use, enjoy and retain in its possession the island 
of St. Thomas in the Caribbees, and other islands in the vicin- 
ity or on the mainland in America, with the following privileges, 
namely : 

(1) To be permitted in the name of his Majesty to form 
alliance with either governments in the West Indies; 

To be allowed in case of violence or attack to employ means 
adequate for defense and offense; 

But in case European lords, potentates, or states cause 
trouble to the Company, it must first refer the matter to the 
king, although if the others should begin the use of violence, the 
Company must defend itself. 

If it shall be considered necessary, his Majesty will not alone 
furnish the Company with the needed credentials but will also 
send to all foreign potentates such communications as the Com- 
pany's interests may require. 

(2) The Company may build such forts, lodges and offices 
as they may deem necessary [upon St. Thomas], and also upon 
such islands and lands as are uninhabited and belong to no 
other power, and if such possession is effected by the Company, 
the lands must belong to the Company. 

His Majesty will appoint and ordain commandants and 
governors suitable for the Company's service, after considering 
the recommendation of the Company, and will, moreover, 
especially order them to labor for the Company's best interests; 
nor shall they be paid higher salaries than the condition of the 
Company's finances will justify. 

1 Translated from P. Manager, Historiske Efterretninger, pp. 2 et seq. The 
original, with which this has been compared, is to be found in Registrant over 
Vestindiske Sager, 1671-1699. See also C. P. Rothe's Rescripter for Norge, 
Island . . . og de Indiske Besiddelser . . . 2 Bd. Mariager's paragraphing has 
been retained. 

[294] 



APPENDIX C 295 

(3) The commandants and others m the Company's employ 
must not do any trading except on the Company's account.^ 

(4) Durmg the first three years, his Majesty will loan the 
Company a ship, which will be fitted out with all necessities, 
and for the use of which the Company will pay nothing during 
the first year, on condition that the Company shall give [to the 
king] one-half of all woods, pock-wood or other kinds, which 
they carry, and likewise one-half of such quantity of salt as 
they may secure there. But if they carry other goods, then they 
must pay 30 rdl. in freight for each 4,000 Ibs.^ 

But for the succeeding years, they are to give 40 rdl. per 
LoBst or 4000 lbs. although they are not to pay for woods and the 
like which are used as ballast, nor to pay freight on more than 
is dehvered here on their return. 

And in order that they may in the course of time the more 
easily come to own their own ships, the Company shall be per- 
mitted, as soon as their means will allow it, to furnish them- 
selves a flute ship for securing salt from Spain, in which [trade] 
they may enjoy the same privileges as the largest mounted 
ships sailing to Spain, although such ships be not built especially 
with a view to defence. 

His Majesty will also loan the Company one of his small 
yachts, which they may retain there in the islands for three 
years, and if it cannot be sent hither then, the Company shall 
not be held liable to pay. 

Similarly, his Majesty will loan to the Company sailors to go 
with the Company's ships, on condition that the Company pay 
the men as high wages as they have enjoyed in the king's service, 
and furnish them with the needed provisions and board so long 
as they are on board ship. 

And the Company's ships may fly his Majesty's flag, and are 
also to be provided with the proper passports. 

(5) Those ministers of the gospel who return from thence 
and have comported themselves well will be appointed by his 
Majesty to such places as may be vacant, and are to be sup- 
ported during the interval by the funds of the marine department. 

(6) His Majesty's seamen who are placed in the service of 
the Company are to be subject to the directors' orders so long 
as the journey lasts, and the latter are to include them in their 
oath of allegiance. 

2 They were also forbidden to enter into any war or to take an offensive action 
against either Europeans or Indians, except on the advice and with the consent 
of the directors, and under no circumstances were they to wage war against a 
European power without the royal consent. Cf. C. P. Rothe, Rescripter. 

' One LcBst contained four thousand Danish pounds. 



^96 APPENDIX C 

(7) So long as the Company exists, none other than it, 
neither his Majesty's own subjects nor foreigners, shall receive 
any passports or permission to trade with the West Indies in 
any fashion whatsoever, upon penalty of confiscation of ship 
and goods ; and such ships as the Company is able to seize, either 
by its own ships or freight vessels, it may retain, except the 
tenth part, which share of all prizes goes to his Majesty's 
Admiral of the Realm.* 

(8) The Company's ships or property, either in general or 
in particular, is not to be subject to seizure or to any other use 
whatever without the Company's consent, nor shall any other 
obstacle be placed in its way whether in time of peace or in 
time of war, but trade shall always be permitted to run its 
free and undisturbed course. 

(9) Everything needed for the equipment, cargo and fitting 
out of the Company's ships shall be exempt from duty, but all 
goods brought in from the [West] Indies shall be carefully 
listed, . . . those exported to foreign lands, shall be subject to 
a duty of one per cent, and those remaining within the realm, 
to two and one-half per cent., for which account must be ren- 
dered at the close of each year. 

(10) The Company is also permitted to have its own weights 
and measures, and to use these in all cases although they must 
conform to those weights and measures which are in use here in 
Copenhagen. 

(11) And since the said Company is an entirely new enter- 
prise, and no one has yet been placed in charge of it, and since 
it is highly necessary that persons be appointed at once to take 
charge of the collecting of capital and of securing the necessary 
goods [for the venture] [at the proper time], these persons are 
hereby chosen and authorized to act as directors: Jens Juul ^ 
chancery councilor and vice president of the Board of Trade, 
Peter Pedersen Lerche, justice in the supreme court and a mem- 
ber of the Board of Trade, and Hans Nansen,!^ likewise a mem- 
ber of the Board of Trade. To these three shall be added three 
of the Company's shareholders, by a majority vote, as soon as a 
sufficient number of shareholders have joined the Company. 
His Majesty has also . . . granted the sharieholders the right 
to fill vacancies on the board of directors, provided the places 
are filled from among the stockholders who have invested not 

■• Rigsadmiral. 

■^ Juel. 

^ Rendered incorrectly as Hansen in C. P. Rothe's Rescrifter. 



APPENDIX C 297 

less than 2,000 sldl. in the Company, — all in accordance with 
the proposals of the Reglement drawn up by the Board of Trade. 

(12) The said Company is also to be allowed to have its own 
court, so that the directors may try and render judgment in 
all disputes and cases concerning themselves and their employees, 
which arise out of the [West] Indian trade; from which forum 
there shall be no appeal, except to the supreme court. 

(13) And all artisans, laborers and seamen who come from 
foreign places to enter the Company's service, shall enjoy the 
same treatment that his Majesty's subjects enjoy, and they as 
well as their surviving wives and children, shall be exempt from 
the payment of sixths and tenths when they receive a furlough 
from the Company and proceed out of the kingdom. . . . 

(14) And inasmuch as the Company has need of men to 
build and defend the places and lodges which they need for 
their security, as well as for the peopling of the colonies and the 
cultivation and settling of the land, it is permitted to take two 
enlisted men from each company from among the strong, in- 
dustrious men who are married and know some trade, and also 
as many as may be needed of those who have been condemned 
to prison or put in irons, for use on plantations or elsewhere; 
and of women, as many as may be desired from among those 
whose unseemly lives have brought them into prison or a house 
of correction,^ 

(15) The Company is also permitted, by royal favor, to have 
as much space as they may need for meetings, the safe-keeping 
of moneys, and for offices, in the upper part of the stock ex- 
change, while for pack houses and magazine it is to have the 
vaults and space formerly occupied by the salt company, which 
places shall be assigned them by the Board of Trade. 

(16) It is permitted, moreover, that if the Gluckstadt 
African Company is unable to give satisfactory assurances of 
its ability to continue its career on the lines already planned, 
the West India Company shall be allowed to take up said Com- 
pany's work with the same privileges and exemptions as the 
Gluckstadt company now has, although in such a case they shall 
pay said company for all its entire stock of pieces, guns, and 
ammunition, and also permit it to remove such goods as it may 
have on hand, and to collect its outstanding debts there, unless 
some other arrangement is made between the two com- 
panies. 

But inasmuch as the forts revert Ex direlicto to his Majesty, 

^ Spindehuset eller andetsteds. 



298 APPENDIX C 

he will hand them over to the Company's possession and reten- 
tion without any dues. 

Finally, the privilege of using his Majesty's seal in such cases 
as the advancement of commerce seems to require is by especial 
royal favor and grace granted to those servants of the Company 
in the [West] Indies who have charge of its business. 

Which most gracious charter is dated [at] Copenhagen, 
March 11, A[nn]o 1671. 



APPENDIX D 

CHARTER OF 1697 FOR THE WEST INDIA AND GUINEA COMPANY ^ 

C[hristian] 5 to whomsoever this may come, greeting: Inas- 
much as we have most graciously recommended the directors 
of our West India Company to take up the Guinea trade, in 
order the better to facilitate the said commerce, we have most 
graciously furnished our West India and Guinea Company with 
this our charter. 



The Company is to continue in possession of the island of 
St. Thomas in the West Indies, likewise Crab island, St. John, 
item the fortress Christiansborg in Guinea, together with such 
lands and forts as they might hereafter secure possession of, and 
is alone to be permitted to trade therewith, and is, without pay- 
ment of dues to us, to enjoy any and all profit which might 
therefrom ensue. 

2 

The Company may take and retain in full possession all 
those islands which it owns and which are still uninhabited, 
such as Crab Island, St. John, and the like, as well as all those 
places on the mainland of Africa and America which are not 
already taken possession of by other European nations, and [it 
may] permit forts and lodges to be built thereon; and any profit 
that may result from such occupation shall likewise be the 
Company's to enjoy and to retain, without any dues, let or 
hindrance. 

3 

The Company may enter into such contracts and alliances 
with governments in Africa and America as seem best for the 
furtherance of commerce, and when it is necessary, we shall 
assist it with our credentials and recommendations, but it must 
not enter into negotiations with European potentates or states 
without previously securing our consent; for, when the Com- 
pany requests it, we shall graciously take it [i. e., such nego- 
tiations] up, and labor for the welfare of the Company. 

1 Translated from Registrant over Vestindiske Sager, 1671-1699 {Rigsarkiv). 

[299] 



800 APPENDIX D 



No one, whether he be a subject or a foreigner, excepting the 
Company alone, may hereafter enjoy the use of our . . . pass- 
ports,2 or be permitted to sail to Mrica or America, and still 
less to trade with the Company's lands, forts or lodges, but if 
some of our subjects should nevertheless venture to trade with 
the places and lands indicated, without the Company's per- 
mission, they shall be liable, whenever they may be found, to 
lose ship and cargo and whatever they may have with them, 
which shall all fall to the Company, without any dues to us. 



All goods of whatever kind, without exception, which the 
Company may ship from our lands and dominions to Africa and 
America, as, well as all sorts of goods which the Company may 
order and import from foreign places or from our own lands for 
the furtherance of trade [or for] the fitting out and provisioning 
of ships, shall be entirely free and exempt from customs duties, 
food taxes, excise, and all other dues, by whatever name they 
might be known, which shall include those which are already 
forbidden, as well as those which may hereafter be forbidden. 
So also all ships and vessels which the Company now owns or 
hereafter may own shall be exempt from all harbor and tonnage 
dues as well as from all other burdens aforementioned. But 
those goods which the Company ships from Africa or America 
to Denmark (excepting gold, which shall be exempt from cus- 
toms dues or any other kind whatsoever) shall be subject to the 
following tariffs : one per cent, on such goods as are shipped to 
foreign states (?) [fremmede ster], and two and one-half per cent, 
on goods consumed in our realms and lands. 

6 

The Company's ships and effects must not be liable to seiz- 
ure, except in such cases where someone has advanced an appre- 
ciable sum of money for the Company's benefit in return for 
the notes of the directors and in such cases, the person who has 
in his possession the directors' notes may, in case of default of 
payment, have the directors summoned before our supreme 
court and may there secure judgment against them, after which 
judgment, he may seize any of the Company's effects, and se- 
cure his payments out of those. 

* S6e faaaer. 



APPENDIX D 301 



And in order that the trade of the Company may the better 
be continued and directed, we have seen fit to permit and to 
order that the shareholders may select from among them- 
selves, by a majority vote, six men, or a greater number if need 
be, who are to serve as directors, of which six or more, one-third 
shall be of our ministers or servants, and the other two-thirds 
reputable merchants from this city, although no one may be 
selected to act as director unless he has invested, at the very 
least, 1,000 rixdoUars in the Company; which directors shall 
have full power and authority to dispose of all the Company's 
means and effects, in Europe as well as in Africa and America, 
and to make all needful arrangements upon the Company's be- 
half; and when any of the directors die, others shall be selected 
in the aforesaid manner. 

8 

The said directors are herewith authorized to appoint and 
to dismiss all employees of the Company who serve on land or 
sea, whether in Europe, Africa, or America, and to issue such 
instructions to them as they may deem needful for the Com- 
pany's interests; which employees shall be duly bound to carry 
out the orders of the directors on pain of punishment according 
to the gravity of the case. But such as are chosen by the direc- 
tors, acting for the Company, as governors and commandants 
of the forts in Africa or in America, must be furnished with our 
. . . confirmation of their ofiBce, which shall in due course be 
granted upon the application of the directors. 

9 

The Company is also to be permitted to have its own court, 
so that the directors may either themselves try all cases and 
decide all difficulties concerning the Company's employees (so 
long as they are actually in the Company's service and have not 
rendered proper account of their stewardship), or [they may] 
name two or more shareholders, who may do this work on the 
Company's behalf; and such judgments shall not be appealed 
from, unless someone's honor or life is involved; for in such 
cases, and such only, shall it be permitted to the condemned to 
come before the supreme court in a new trial. 

10 

Likewise the Company is also to be permitted to have its own 
weights and measures, and to use these in all cases, although 



302 APPENDIX D 

they must conform to those weights and measures which we 
have ordained shall be used throughout our realms and lands. 

11 

The Company's own artisans, as well as the master here in 
the city, are to be permitted without let or hindrance to carry 
through all that the directors have asked them to do for the 
furtherance of the Company's trade, and to do this in such 
manner as the directors may deem that the best interests of the 
Company demand. 

12 

The Company is permitted to use unstamped paper in all its 
departments of business, which shall be accepted in all places 
and in every court at just as high a [legal] value as though it 
were stamped. 

13 

The directors are to be allowed to pay such a rate of interest 
on moneys which they may have borrowed for the Company's 
use and for the promotion of its trade as they can agree upon 
with those concerned, and those notes which the directors thus 
issue on the Company's behalf are in all ways to be as valid as 
though all the shareholders had signed them, and they are to be 
accepted as letters of exchange. 

14 

The directors may themselves select God-fearing decent and 
learned persons as ministers, who shall teach the pure Lutheran 
doctrine on the islands and in the forts of the Company in 
Africa and America as well as on its ships, and who shall serve 
the people in matters affecting their souls' welfare. Whenever 
they have been named and called by the directors, we shaU con- 
firm them in their office, and if they show themselves to be well 
instructed and of proper behavior, we shall in due time, on the 
application of the directors, give them preference to others in 
the matter of securing positions as ministers in these, our 
realms and lands. 

15 

We do also herewith grant to those servants of the Company 
who do business for it in the [West] Indies permission to use 
our seal in cases involving the general welfare and the further- 
ance of commerce. Forbydendes, etc. 

Copenhagen, September 28, [16]97. 



APPENDIX E 

LETTER OF CHARITE ESMIT TO ADOLPH ESMIT ^ 

My dearest! 

We thank God for the good news regardmg your safe arrival 
in Barbados; though nine weeks old, it was very welcome to 
everybody. I had heard from various sources about town that 
letters had arrived. Madame Hoppe had kept hold of her 
letters three days before she had allowed me to see them. I 
hope all my letters have arrived, and that you will answer them 
before the supreme court begins its session and calls upon me 
for them.2 Last week Milan had the smith, Anna, Karen and 
the negro Sent called up before the magistrate and had two 
hundred questions put to them. We had no one there; Munch is 
out of town on orders from the king, T., our good friend, is on 
Fiinen, Mickelsen and Captain Meyer have been there [at the 
magistrate's?]. Milan has managed it so that Sent has taken 
the sacrament at the French ambassador's. 

Your brother* will appeal; he has "taken orders" from 
Sidenborg, which has cost half a hundred rixdoUars, and is to 
cost me an equal sum, but whence I shall get it I do not know. 
I am in great hopes that you will send me some [money] but I 
fear that you will not be able to. 

May God bless you on your mission, otherwise your reputa- 
tion here is gone. People here are all awaiting eventualities 
eagerly; I cannot write all that they say. Be sure that you 

1 Breve og Dokumenter, 1683-1689 (Rigsarkiv). This letter, according to a 
statement signed by C. Heins, H. Irgens, J. Delicaet, and J. Lorentz, arrived in 
St. Thomas after Adolph Esmit's enforced return in company with vice admiral 
Hoppe. It had come via France and a Brandenburg bark had brought it from 
St. Eustatius. The letter was written in English, Madame Esmit's native 
tongue, but only the Danish translation is to be found in the Company's ar- 
chives. 

The paragraphing is that of the translator. 

^ Jeg forhaaber at i cdle mine Brefve har hekommet, i ville snart sende tnig Svar 
derpaa fdrend dend Hoyeste Rcett Kommer og bestille dem til mig som jeg Eder 
hafver beedet. 

' Nicholas Esmit. See above, p. 46, et seq. The Sidenborg referred to can- 
not be Jacob Sidenborg, since the latter died March 31, 1685, after having 
been secretary to, and a member of, the Board of Trade. 

1 303 ] 



304 APPENDIX E 

don't forget to write to Luxdorph,* Harbo,^ and Baron Juell; « 
you must also write to Moth,^ Mule « and to those whom you 
wish to retain as your friends. They are all expecting it. Do 
not forget the directors, for we are under their thumbs. 

There are no news from the Red Cock and the schooner.^ I 
have had the matter herewith enclosed with me for six days, 
but I don't think that it amounts to much. He complains of 
lack of money, and has told me that you were to send him five 
to six hundred dollars on account. i" I find that the account 
appears to be quite large. I hope that it will please God to 
bless you to the end that we may get away from this people. I 
believe in my good God, who has never during my life left me 
in need, and if he wills to spare my life, I shall not remain here 
in this place after your case is closed. 

With this post came letters from Guinea [stating] that all the 
people were rebellious. I believed that it was on St. Thomas. 
Rosenheim ^^ has been in England and has sold the Guinea fort 
for 4,000 rdl. I have inquired about your instructions but can 
get no reply. For God's sake, be careful that you are not 
caught in others' snares. You must write in quite friendly 
fashion to the Old Man ^^ so long as I am here. 

Verily, I am quite melancholy, full of fear, grief and distress. 
I have been [so] unwell . . . that I have hardly been able to 
draw my breath. I have taken a purgative, and have had some 
blood let. Thank God, I am now somewhat better. 

1 am unable to get any money from Madame Westervyck; 
she has none. The president " here in Copenhagen is dead. I do 

* Bolle Luxdorph had held various positions in the chancery since 1669. In 
1680 he became a councilor and secretary to the chancery, in 1684, a councilor 
of state (Etatsraad), and in 1688, first secretary. 

^ Perhaps the Jens Harboe who was first secretary in the war department 
from 1691 to 1699, and a privy councilor. 
^ Jens Juel, the statesman. 
^ Matthias Moth. Cf. above, pp. 90-92. 

* Probably Christian Mule, secretary in the chancery from 1685 to 1697. 
' Kreyert. 

'" Paa hans Regenshahs afkortning. 

^^ Jens Tolder {Rosenheim) had become a councilor of commerce (Kommerce- 
raad) in October, 1681, and in December had been elected to the board of 
shareholders in the Company. For Guinea negotiations, cf. Manager, Historisk 
Efterretning, pp. 51 et seq. 

" Possibly Steen Andersen Bille, "vice commandant" of the city of Copen- 
hagen. 

*' This was Peder Resen, the predecessor of Hans Nansen, who became "Pres- 



APPENDIX E 305 

not know what sort of an account your cousin here in Vlissingen " 
has given you, for he hasn't even troubled himself to answer my 
letter since your departure. I beg of you to have nothing to do 
with him. You must not ship the cotton to England; no price 
can be got for it there. Deldyn seems to be your most reliable 
man; [he] is of the opinion that sugar and indigo are selling well 
in England, and he is a good man there. 

I haven't much confidence in Johan Lorentz and aU those who 
are associated with you, except [Hendrick] Irgens alone. The 
good God will guide you. I implore you most heartily, my 
dearest, to say your prayers to God and to keep him as your 
friend; then you need have no fear of anything men may do to 
you. And remember always the former grace, and feel obliged at 
all times to fear and serve him who has done such great things 
for you, and always will do. For otherwise you are miserable, 
poor, poor. 

Hendriette greets you heartily. When you write, remember 
to write to Pauli; ^^ he is my friend. You probably know that 
I have signed MarcoUi's note, and at that time [when it is due], 
he must have his money. You must write to Claes Sohn,i8 and 
not forget Mr. Becker. Mr. Fadderbye is the best friend I have 
here. He sends you his greetings. Adieu, my dearest. That 
the good God may grant that we shall meet happily once more 
is the constant prayer of 

Your affectionate 
last wife, 
Charite Esmits. 

My sincere greetings to the good admiral. His entire family 
is in good health; his wife is to go to Holstein to her sister's 
wedding. 

ident" of Copenhagen July 7, 1688. Resen had been an active member of the 
Council of State from 1673 to 1676, had become a councilor of justice in 1677, 
and councilor of state in 1684. He died June 1, 1688. 

1* Flushing. 

^^ Oliger or Holger Pauli, the 6rst secretary of the Company in its Copenhagen 
office. 

1" Claes or Claus Sohn was elected to the board of shareholders in 1679. Mar- 
iager, op. cit., 31. 



APPENDIX F 

REPORT OF BOARD OF POLICE AND TRADE TO KING FREDERICK IV 

(1716) 

Most mighty king, 

Most gracious hereditary ruler: 

In accordance with your Majesty's most gracious order, we 
humbly present herewith our sincere opinion concerning those 
privileges and [other] matters [in dispute] which the delegates 
sent out from St. Thomas in America have asked the West In- 
dian Company to adjudicate that their commerce and means 
of livelihood might be sustained, [and] which the Company 
considers that it can not grant them without serious invasion 
of the rights granted it in the charter. Which points are as 
follows: 

Query 1. Whether the inhabitants of St. Thomas may be 
permitted free trade with their goods, in America as well as in 
Europe (excepting Copenhagen and Hamburg) without the 
West India Company's charter being violated by said free trade.' 

The condition of the island ought to be observed in this con- 
nection; since it is such that nothing grows there except sugar, 
cotton-wool of which they make cotton, and millet, which is a 
sort of plant smaller than rice, and is used mainly by the poorest 
whites and by the slaves of the land. The nature of the soil 
and the climate is said to be such that nothing can grow there 
except beans and other small truck which cannot be taken to 
Europe; for which reason the inhabitants must necessarily 
procure from other places all things necessary for food as well 
as clothing, such as flour, meat, pork, butter, oil, cloths and 
stuffs, muslin, linen, leather, tobacco, all sorts of implements 
for cultivating their land, all kinds of tools for trades, and all 
their equipment of silver, tin, copper, iron and the like. Either 
the Company must bring these things to the planters in suffi- 
cient quantity for their daily needs, and at as reasonable a price 
as they can get them in that region from the English, French, 
and Spaniard colonies in the vicinity, or they must be allowed 
to seek them where they may. 

1 From Politi- og Commerce-Collegiets Memorial Bog, Bd. 21 (1716-1720), in 
Copenhagen Municipal Archives {Raadstuearkiv) . The paragraphing is largely 
that of the translator. See above, pp. 179-180. 

[ 306'] 



APPENDIX F 307 

Hitherto the Company has not demonstrated its ability to 
provide them the planters with sufficient of the above-mentioned 
goods to satisfy their bare needs, — to say nothing of providing a 
plenty, — and even had they been able to bring in such goods, 
it would have been impossible, and will be still more so in the 
future, for them to bring in provisions at as low a price as they 
could have been secured in the neighboring colonies. For 
example, how will it be possible to bring in a barrel of English 
flour weighing 180-190 lbs. net for 6-7 rdl., a bbl. of meat weigh- 
ing 200 lbs. net at the same price, a barrel of pork for 10-11 
rdl., when the price here is very nearly as high? Besides it will 
also be difficult for the Company to furnish enough provisions 
to keep those lands properly supplied from one journey to an- 
other, and if that cannot be done, the inhabitants will surely 
die of hunger and so the Company would be the loser in the 
end. For unfortunately, there has not been a year since the 
first establishment of the Company, when it has been able to 
fit out and send from here more than a single ship, or at most 
two ships. How often, indeed, has it not happened, especially 
in times when these dominions or those of our neighbors have 
been disturbed by war, that St. Thomas has seen but a single 
ship every other year ! ^ 

Next must be considered the goods which must be carried 
thither, and especially woolen and linen goods, which the Com- 
pany must itself import from foreign places, and which it cannot, 
therefore, bring thither at the price at which they can be se- 
cured in the neighborhood; for either the Company must bring 
them in at a great loss, or St. Thomas must suffer the mis- 
fortune of being impoverished by paying exorbitant prices for 
such goods, and higher prices than are paid on all the sur- 
rounding islands. And if that happens, the colony will no 
doubt decay of itself, and the colonists move to other places 
where prices are more reasonable and there is greater freedom. 
Besides, it must be taken into consideration that some of the 
Company's ships on leaving here first sail to Guinea and the 
African coasts to fetch slaves, which are the very best and most 
profitable of commodities that can and must be brought to St. 
Thomas to be sold for the cultivation of the land and the de- 
velopment of the plantations. Now they are obliged to bring 
from here a double cargo, part of it to use for provisioning their 
forts and lodges in Guinea, and for purchasing slaves, and part 
for the West Indian colony; for which reason the ships that do 

^ J a hvor tit og besynderlig i ufreds Tiider saavel her i Rigerne som andensteds er 
det sheet at St. Thomas ikkun har sect eet Skib fra Compagniet hver Andei Aar. 



308 APPENDIX F 

not sail directly to the colonies are en route so much longer. 
Meantime the colony is likely to be subject to various dangers, 
such as violent hurricanes which harry those regions yearly, 
and often bring great disaster down upon them; sea-robbers, 
who descend upon the land to rob its inhabitants; sicknesses 
and other plagues which are likely to increase their misery. 
All these things may come upon them without their being able 
by post to advise the Company thereon, and when they do not 
learn of the colonists' needs and sufferings until the ships arrive 
in the islands, they cannot bring with them the needed relief. 
Would it not be un-Christian, then, to forbid them the chance 
of making their living in the best way that they can, inasmuch 
as the Company itself is obliged almost every year to supply 
its own fortress and plantation from New York and [from] the 
surrounding islands, and ships practically nothing from here 
[Copenhagen] for their [St. Thomas'] provision? 

Besides this, there are other goods in the islands, not includ- 
ing sugar and cotton, which the Company either will not or can 
not ship out, such as brandy, which they make from sugar cane, 
beans, cassava, [sweet] potatoes, yams, etc., on which products 
alone many families who have no plantations live, and which 
are brought in from other places.* It is indeed a sin that these 
goods should be lost to commerce, and the families either be 
forced to starve or to move out. And who would suffer more 
therefrom than the Company itself which would lose its surest 
and largest source of income,^ the poll tax. [?] 

The directors, to be sure, are continually harping upon their 
privileges and charter, which provides that no one, whoever he 
may be, excepting themselves alone, may trade with the col- 
onies, but may not the colony seek its living and trade with 
outsiders, when the Company itself suffers no hardship thereby, 
and can secure enough return cargo for its ships [?] It appears, 
too, that the Company has lost nothing by the free trade which 
the inhabitants have connived to enjoy during the past few 
years,^ inasmuch as it has not only had full cargoes for the 
homeward voyages, but while its ship has been lying in the 
harbor [in St. Thomas], the Company has frequently disposed 
of two or three cargoes to other places before its own ship was 
loaded. The directors may say that this occurred without 
their knowledge or consent. But it is scarcely believable that 

' Alleeniste leve, og andensteds henfores. 
■• Intrade. 

^ Ved Ind Byggernes Fri Handel, som de nu i nogle Aar afdere^ Connivence hate 
nydt. . . . 



APPENDIX F S09 

their servant (the governor) should have been a party to such 
peculation within sight of the Company's own ship, which was 
to take on all [the cargo] that there M^as and that it could secure 
and take back to the home land, without special orders or per- 
mission. 

It also appears that the Company has not suffered through 
the free trade thus connived at, since they permit their own 
plantations, which are the largest and best, to lie uncultivated, 
and to be used, according to report, only as grazing land for 
their horses and mules; so that one is inclined to ask how the 
needed provisions could be obtained upon the island, except 
through the inhabitants enjoying free trade, which enables them 
to secure much white and brown sugar from the French colonies. 

From all of which circumstances, we can by no means con- 
cede that free trade with the surrounding islands should be for- 
bidden to the inhabitants, because they should not be subjected 
to privation as a result of the Company's and colony's pros- 
perity and growth, because they ought not to be treated with 
greater severity than the other neighboring colonies round 
about, since thereby the island might become desolate and other 
nations might avail themselves of an opportunity to seize it; 
because they ought not to be treated as serfs and slaves of the 
Company, since they are, indeed, a free people. If the Com- 
pany would confine its restrictions to one sort of goods or an- 
other, which they were not to be allowed to ship out of the is- 
land, and if it would, on the other hand, agree to take such 
produce from them at a reasonable price, and also to furnish 
them with all necessaries, which it cannot possibly do, such as 
the free use of money," horses, mules, etc., it wouldn't have 
been so bad, and then the Company and the colony might sub- 
mit to certain rules, as is the case with Iceland and the Fseroe 
islands, but now it is making such demands that we can by no 
means lend it support. It is not necessary to forbid free trade 
with Europe, except with Hamburg, Bremen and Denmark. 

Query 2. Whether the Company shall have the right of pre- 
emption [with respect to colonial goods] in the colony and [if 
so] at what prices.'' 

The Company should indisputably have the right of pre- 
emption, as the Company's store-house must always have a 
sufficient quantity on hand to furnish full cargoes for its ships 
on their return voyages. But it ought to be observed that such 
right of priority should not be abused, either by the Company 
or by its employees at the forts and lodges, as they have hitherto 

' Gratia Contanter. 



310 APPENDIX F 

done to their own profit and the loss and injury of the inhab- 
itants. For the way the Company's employees there have man- 
aged and kept the inhabitants from making a living has been 
improper and ought not to have been tolerated. 

If the Company could inform the inhabitants how large a 
cargo it planned to take out, it should certainly furnish its pack 
houses with the needed quantity; but the Company should, on 
the other hand, either be obliged to keep up its own plantations, 
which are the best, or they should sell or rent them to others 
on such terms as would be considered reasonable on the island. 
For when these plantations lie uncultivated the colony must 
make up the difference, and thus they will lack produce to sell 
to private traders in exchange for provisions. The chief ques- 
tion of dispute will be the price. 

The directors maintain that they should secure the produce 
at one-sixth less than the current market price. The colonists 
say, on the other hand, that this amounts to more than 16 per 
cent.,^ and are unable to perceive why they should sell their 
goods at a better rate than the market price, inasmuch as they 
are now paying a six per cent, duty on all outgoing goods, 
whereas previously they paid but four per cent., and where 
they formerly paid no duties on incoming goods, they now pay 
five per cent. Hence the Company, after it had permitted 
free trade ^ now receives seven per cent, more of the colonists' 
goods than before, and if it should now secure their goods at 
one-sixth off, it would then secure twenty-three per cent., and 
poll tax for persons over 16 and 20 years of age, whether they 
are free or slave, besides; which runs up to a pretty considerable 
total. 

It is our firm conviction that the inhabitants [of St. Thomas] 
have much reason on their side. The prospect of their losing so 
high a percentage of their produce is hard indeed, since they 
must not only pay a high price for their plantations, and for 
living on and cultivating the land, but also pay so large an im- 
port and export tax, especially [large] in \dew of the necessity 
of importing from abroad all their food and clothing. 

What is most to be feared is that the most substantial of the 
inhabitants will put their heads together and dehberately raise 
the price of the goods which should be dehvered to the Company. 
But to that they have replied that such was impossible, for 
the Company's employees being in business as well as themselves, ' 
are as well informed concerning the state of the market, and 

' Crossed out in MS.: af alle udgaaende Vahre, i staden de ickxin Gave. 
^ Siden de Conniverede udi Deresfri Handel. 



APPENDIX F 311 

when they so desire, they can both raise and lower (sic) the 
price as they please.^ It is our humble opinion that since the 
Company has already raised their customs duties, both for 
exports and imports, in which matter the colony will make no 
protest if those taxes shall remain unchanged where they are at 
present, it would be very severe, indeed, if the planters should 
have to dispose of their produce at such a fearful loss; for the 
Company has already a sufficient handicap, both through its 
prior right of purchase, and its customs duties. 

Query 3 is whether or not planters who leave the island should 
pay the sixths and tenths out of their resources which the di- 
rectors claim, and which they have never known of nor paid 
hitherto until the year 1702, when one was compelled to pay it. 
Besides, when anyone at present comes to the island, they re- 
ceive from the privy council there a promise of exemption from 
that tax should they desire to move away. . . .i° 

For one must distinguish between Europe where such Ahzug 
Gelder, Nachsteuer, Jus Detractionis, and other [taxes], by what- 
ever name they might be called, are everywhere in use, and the 
regions of Africa and America, where they are not used. Here 
in Europe, it is Jus Gentium, but it is by no means thus in those 
lands, and if it is not practicable in one place, it is hardly ad- 
visable to introduce it in another [near at hand] unless the object 
is to instil a fear of such a place in men's minds, and prevent 
them from coming there to settle. The directors should con- 
sider that scarcely one tenth — indeed hardly one tweKth — of the 
colony consists of native Danes, but most of them are Dutch, 
Enghsh and French, for there are reported to be not more than 
ten or twelve Danish famiUes who are in a position to own 
slaves or plantations or to > carry on trade. The rest are for- 
eigners. . . ." 

Query 5.'^^ Whether it is advisable that a number of the 
leading inhabitants shall have seats in the council or the courts, 
in matters concerning the internal affairs of the island .^^ 

The directors oppose this, since they fear the inhabitants will 
become too greedy for power and encroach by intrigue upon the 
Company's sovereignty and commercial privileges." But we 
are of the opinion that if their rights are limited to certain fields, 

^ Hvorefter de meest faar at rette Sig. 

'" Various elaborate arguments against these taxes are here omitted. 
'1 Arguments favoring various definite immunities and guarantees along the 
lines above indicated conclude the reply to Query 3. 
^^ Query 4 does not appear in the MS. 
^^ Intriguer e sig udi Deres Eyendoms Rett of Deres Preference udi Negoeen. 



§i^ Appendix p 

such as disputes arising within the islands, De Meo et Tuo and 
other matters in which the Company is not interested, then a 
number of the most intelligent and best of the inhabitants 
should have a place in the courts. But that concerns the [de- 
partment of] justice and not the Board of Trade. Yet we shall 
take the liberty of saying that in so far as we have been informed 
by the [St. Thomas] delegates, the administration of justice 
there should beyond doubt be recognized and placed upon a 
different footing; which need is indicated by their complaints 
concerning the probating of their estates. 

The remaining grievances and Gravamina have to do with 
fugitive slaves, the seizure of their vessels, and the like, in which 
matters we have nothing more to suggest than either the seeking 
for satisfactory adjustment through your majesty's efforts, or 
reprisals, if such are possible, or to give blow for blow, for which 
the Company is too weak. But with respect to the calling or 
securing of ministers, as well as freedom in the exercise of reli- 
gion, i* the directors have already promised a remedy. . . . 

Besides all this, some of us have hit upon the idea that your 
royal majesty might himself place a commandant at the fort 
who might be supported from those imposts which the Company 
draws from the island, such as customs duties and poll tax; and 
the commandant could defend the inhabitants when any in- 
justice was done them. Besides, the inhabitants and their 
property would be more secure against unexpected attack, con- 
cerning which rumors of danger have gone out this spring, 
inasmuch as the fort is described as being in so poor a condition 
that it is to be feared that unless an improvement takes place 
there will be danger of losing the island. This is discussed in the 
communication of the [St. Thomas] deputies, art. 2, of May 20, 
1716, and further in the letter of the inhabitants dated F[eb- 
ruary] 24, 1716, already referred to, wherein it appears that for 
a long time the garrison has consisted of not more than twenty- 
two soldiers largely incapacitated by lack of food and proper 
care; for in five or six months they had received no wages, so 
that they had become desperate [and] wished to be relieved. 
Besides, for this small garrison, there was not more than one 
month's provisions, only ten usable pieces, two hundred good 
balls; no small arms to put in the hands of the inhabitants; the 
commandant is apparently not a man of military training, but 
interested more in trade than in looking out for such matters 
of necessity. . . .^^ 

^^ Liber exercitio Religionis. 

'^ Here the members of the investigating Board failed to agree, J. B. Ernst, A. 



APPENDIX F 



313 



Your royal majesty's most humble, dutiful and faithful 
servants 

N[iels] Slange J[ohan] Bfertram] Ernst A[ndreas] Franck 

C[hristian] Braem M[orten] Munck 

M[arkus] Johansen A[braham] Klocker i^ 

Board of Police and Trade [Copenhagen] June [?], 1716. 

To this statement was added the following: Information con- 
cerning the cargo which the last ship sent by the Company 
took with it from the fatherland to St. Thomas in the West 
Indies, 



Bricks 

Klincker 

Tilestones 

Norwegian planks 

Rope 

Pitch and tar, though they planters 
may be secured cheaper from 
New York 



A small quantity of copper 
work, such as sugar kettles 
and the like, of which nothing 
has been sent thither during 
recent years, so that the 
have been forced to 
supply their needs from other 



sources. 

Silesian linen 

Grindstones 

A small quantity of Liibeck 
beer 

Iron 

Goods which the colony on St. Thomas needs and must pro- 
cure from other places : 

Victuals: Meat, pork, butter, etc. May be secured at far 
lower prices in New York than in Denmark. 

Goods for clothing, etc. English stuffs, wool and silk stock- 
ings, woolen and silk puoser (?), camelots, English Bay (?), Hol- 
land linen, French " Rouan " [Rouen cloth], table-cloths, all kinds 
of linens from Flanders, Westphalia, Harlem and other places," 
silk and threads, flax and hemp, lace, pottery, spices, iron im- 
plements for the cultivation of plantations, domestic imple- 
ments, sail cloth. 

From the French islands : sugar, both white and brown, cacao, 
indigo, ginger, powder, money. 

Franck, C. Braem, and M. Johansen favoring prompt reinforcements, the others 
arguing that this matter was not for them, but for the King and the Company to 
determine. 

1^ Of these Braem had been on the directorial board since 1697, and Klocker 
was to become a director in 1727. 

^' The last four or five items "may be had from the English, French, and 
Dutch islands." 



314 APPENDIX F 

From the Spanish islands: cattle, hides and leather, cacao, 
Virginia tobacco, money, etc. 

Exceedingly necessary for sugar mills and plantations: mules 
from the Spaniards; horses from New York. 

From the English: Brazil-wood, Campeachy and other woods 
suitable for rasping and dyes. 



APPENDIX G 

GOVERNOR ERIK BREDAL TO DIRECTORS, 1719, 1722 i 

St. Thomas, May 25, 1719. 

. . . The English nation is the one that does us the most 
good, and from which we have most to fear, for truth to say, 
they hold our very lives in their hands; and if they, (who dis- 
pute our right to St. Thomas, and threaten St. John) should 
adopt the expedient of forbidding the sending of provisions to 
this place for haK a year, the inhabitants would be obliged to 
leave the island, for their live-stock (now that the land is laid 
out in cotton and sugar works) would not suflBce, according to 
my calculation, to keep them supplied with food during that 
time, the less so, since a butchered ox cannot be preserved here 
more than a couple of days on account of the heat. 

But although the English General Hamilton ^ might enter- 
tain such a plan because of the evil intentions he bears toward 
this land on account of the occupation of St. John, yet it is for- 
tunate for us that the governors of the other English colonies 
from which we secure provisions are not on good terms with 
him, and are not prepared to carry through any such plan. Be- 
sides, Mr. Hamilton might easily have taken the chance (con- 
sidering the malice he bears us) to ruin both of these islands if 
he had thought of it. For a long time, there have been a great 
many English sea-robbers here, who have always kept their 
posts at the English islands Spanishtown (sic) and Tortola, 
where they have had free passage. He would only have had to 
set them upon us secretly to bring about our ruin. For the 
amnesty that they have been granted is so liberal that they 
cannot even be held by the English inhabitants for murder, 
robbery or other misdeeds, if they but return within a certain 
time and receive amnesty. In that manner the French have 
received the greater part of Hispaniola [Haiti] from the Span- 
iards in the midst of peace. I do not say it because of any 
fear, and I do not think that anyone accuses me of that, but 
because of the caution which I think is needed here to prevent 
the seizure or plundering of this land (especially in the cold 
months when sickness is general), — which may God avert! — 

1 B. & D., 1717-1720. The paragraphing is that of the translator. 
^ Governor General of the English Leeward Islands. 

[315] 



316 APPENDIX G 

either by the Spaniards or the sea-robbers; for our garrison 
amounts to nothing, and the land is weaker than one would 
believe, since in the course of time, three or four plantations 
have come under a single owner, so that where formerly there 
were four whites, there is now but one. Indeed, we are not 
strong enough with respect to the negroes themselves. I have 
warned the inhabitants that this land is becoming weaker, 
and that they should have one white man on each plantation, 
whether or not several were under one owner, but they have 
replied that they were unable to secure any, but that if I were 
willing to let them have some of the soldiers, as had previously 
occurred, they would take them. But none of them can be 
spared. It has actually been a fact that the foreign ships and 
vessels lying in the harbor have sometimes had four times as 
many men on board as the entire fort and island together. . . . 

St. Thomas, June 17, 1722 ' 
Enclosed herewith is a letter from the English General Hart 
who was sent here with two ships of war to request St. John of 
me, and also to inform me that the English also claim St. 
Thomas as belonging to them. I have replied to them as was 
my duty, and attempted to phrase my negative reply as po- 
litely as possible. I gave to Capt. Ellis Brand's proposition a 
similar reply, to which he replied that he would report it to his 
General, and that the occupation of St. John might cause the 
Danes to lose St. Thomas, too, since they had no right to it, 
either. News had also reached me from St. Christopher, be- 
fore the arrival of these ships, that the English said that they 
expected to go and seize St. Thomas and St. John. Neverthe- 
less, these ships left here without attempting anything, after 
having lain anchored far outside of the harbor for several days. 
Although one would suppose that the said two islands are 
not worth enough to the English to pay for their getting into 
trouble with Denmark, yet there is reason to suspect that they 
would be useful for the following design. It is known that they 
have long had an eye upon Porto Rico, and with St. Thomas 
and Crab island (which they are also talking of settling) in their 
possession, they would be able, on account of their sea power, 
so to hem Porto Rico in '• that they would make themselves 
masters of it on the first break with Spain. Likewise, they 
have also a short time ago seized the island of Providence in 
the straits of Bahama, which though not considered of any 

3 B. & D., 17n~2Jt. 

* Saaledes indknibe og indsparre Puerto-rico . . . 



APPENDIX G 317 

particular importance in Europe, is still of more consequence 
than one would readily believe, for the Spaniards are absolutely 
obliged to pass by it with their silver fleet; and the English 
could from this island as well as by land from Virginia disturb 
the whole coast of Florida, 

How bold that nation has become was recently shown in 
their attitude toward the French who took the uninhabited 
island of St. Lucia, for the English immediately sent ships 
thither and drove them out; and since they are so strong in 
America, the French have allowed the matter to rest there, 
although the French General, Marquis de Feuquireres, at once 
dispatched an express to Europe to complain of the shameless 
treatment accorded an oflScer of the king and the duly consti- 
tuted French governor at that place. . . . 



APPENDIX H 
STATISTICS FOR ST. THOMAS: POPULATION, PLANTATIONS i 



Population 
White 1688 1691 1715 1720 

men [„,^ 155. . 155. 

■j xlSc 
women [ 145.. 127. 

children 177. . 247. . 283. 

total 317.. 389.. 547.. 565 

Negro 
men . . . 
women. . 



manq . . . . 
children . 
total. . , 



1725 1733 
. 155.. 173. 
. 169.. 159. 
. not given 



1740 1745 1754 

121.. 144.. 139 

. 128.. 127.. 89 





{361. 


1157. 


.1507. 


1633 


2246' 


. 837. 


. 635. 


. 909 




■ 613. 


. 873. 


979 


. 750. 


. 748. 


. 849 








. 694. 


684 


1495 


. 968. 


. 933. 


. 979 




194. 


.1272. 


.1113. 


1194 


. 578. 


. 678. 


. 744 


422. 


555. 


.3042. 


.4187. 


4490. 


.3741. 


.3133. 


.2994. 


.3481 



Plantations 



C. PI.., 

c. w.. 

S. PI... 

s. w. . . 

K. W.. 

Mixt . . . 
Total. 



81. 


. 1. 


. 11. 


. 13.. 


9.. 


10.. 


5. 


. 6 




. 69. 


. 61. 


. 74.. 


68.. 


66.. 


55. 


. 64 


3. 


. 8. 


. 34. 


. 24.. 


11.. 


8.. 


4. 


. 9 




32. 


. 24. 


.31.. 


32.. 


28.. 


34. 


. 28 




16. 


. 10. 


. 8.. 


6.. 


3.. 




. 1 


17. 


. 34.. 


. 24. 


. 27.. 


27.. 


38.. 


8. 


. 46 


90... 101.. 


.160.. 


.164.. 


.177.. 


148.. 


153.. 


108. 


.164 



Abbreviations: 
C PI. = Cotton plantations. 
C. W. = " " with " works." 

S. PI. = Sugar 
S.W. = " 
K. W. = Kill-devil works. 

IMixt. = Plantations with various products, including provisions or " Kaast " and 
Misc. those not surveyed. 

Cap. = Slaves capable of performing full adult work. 

Manq.= " Manquerons " or those incapacitated by reason of age, injury, etc.; de- 
fectives. 
PI. = Plantations. 

^ These tables have been compiled largely from the Land Lister in the Com- 
pany's archives. 



[318 : 



APPENDIX I 



STATISTICS FOR ST JOHN AND ST CROIX: 
PLANTATIONS 



POPULATION, 



Population 
Whites 
Men Women Children Total Cap. 



Negroes 
Manq. Children Total 



1728 

1733 


76. 

97. 

73. 


6. 

53 




.41. 
.58. 
.75. 




.123 563' 

.208 731.. 

.208 743.. 


84 

119 

280 


. 30 677 

.237 1087 


1739 


60. 




.391 1414 


1720-21 . . . 

1728 

1733 

1739 


C. PL 

.■.■.■.'48.., 

....15.. 

....29... 


C. W. 

... 0... 
... 3... 
...36... 


S. PI 

..8. 
..1. 
..3. 


:. S 


Plantations. 
. W. K. W. Mixt. 

21 1 9.... 

9 1 80.... 

21 20.... 


Owners 
Total On PI. 

39 

. 87.... 28.. 
.109.... 67.. 
.109.... 61. . 


Owners Owners 
on abroad 
St. Th. 

...36 1 

... 4 1 

... ? 3 



For abbreviations, see St. Thomas statistics. 



1742. 
1745, 
1754. 



Population 

Plantation owners 2 Negroes (total) 

Children 
under 
Men Women age Total Cap. Manq. Child. 
.146. . .23. . . 53 .174. . .1559. . . 31 . . . 316. . 
.162. . .30. . .19. . .211. . .1918. . .217. . . 743. 



Total 
.1906 

.2878. 



Christiansted 
Whites Negroes 



M. W. Cap. Mg. Ch. 



,10. ..3... 15. 



.260. . .23. ..21. . .304.. .4851. . .675. . .2040. . .75664 .77. . .7. . .409. 



3 9 

.46 .'.'.' 259 



Plantations 



1742. 
1745. 
1754. 



C.Pl. 
. . 122 . 
..163. 
. . 34. 



-S. PI. Misc. 

.120 42 . 

.77 23 , , 

.1341^ 207.. 



Total 
.264 
.263 
.3751^ 



^ The women included one mulatto; the children, ten groups of "heirs," each 
of which embraced perhaps two or more children. Several owners counted in the 
list for 1739 resided on St. Thomas, St. Eustatius and elsewhere. 

2 The nature of the records makes possible only an approximation to accu- 
racy, especially with respect to the white population. 

* Five is simply the number of plantations credited to minors. 

* Of these, four hundred and nine "capable," forty defectives, and two hundred 
and thirty-nine children were owned in Christiansted. 



319 



APPENDIX J 

LIST OF SLAVE CARGOES ARRIVING IN DANISH WEST INDIES 
(compiled from the company's archives) 



Slave cargoes 



















— 






Ship {and 


Date of 


Registered 


s 


1 


a 


_K 




1^ 


Cost to 
Company 


Cost io 
Planters 


Skipper) 


arrival 


from 


^ 




(§ 


3 


CQ 




{wholesale) 


{retail) 




















rdl. (each) 


rdi.(each) 


Wapen 






















(Gert. Cort) 


1687 (May) 














80 






(Danish Ship) 


1688 


Denmark 












200 






(Captain?) 






















Marschall 


1688 


Emden 












291 






Dorfling 






















[EngUsh Ship] 


1690 (Apr.) 


Bermuda 












[109?1 






Marschall 


1692 


Emden 












500? 


80-95 




Dorfling 






















(Captain?) 






















Frederick III 


1696 (Nov.) 


Emden 












630 






(Jacob Lam- 






















brecht) 






















Churprin- 


1696 (Nov.) 


Emden 












480 






sesseri 






















(Wouter 






















Ypes) 






















[Slave vessel] 


1698 (June) 


Zeeland 












364 






(Jac. de 




(Nether.) 


















Bruyne) 






















Kobenh: B6rs 


1698 (Sept.) 




78 


128 


44 


14 


16 


280 » 






(InnesPieters) 






















[Frederick 






















III?] 


1698 (late) 


Emden? 












624 






(Wouter 
Ypes) 
[Slave vessel] 






















1699 


Zeeland 












[90] = 


70 


90 


(Math. Boo- 






















gaert) 






















Christian V 


1699 (July) 




123 


178 


35 


17 




353' 




85-90 


(Jurgen 






















Grabner) 























1 There were shipped from Guinea one hundred and eighty-four men, two 
hundred and thirty-eight women, fifty-five boys, twenty-four girls, and five 
infants, a total of five hundred and six negroes. Of the two hundred and eighty 
that arrived on September 17, thirty-seven had died by October 12. CJ. Gov. 
C. B., 169^-1700. Lorentz to Directors (October 12, 1698). 

2 Only ninety were sold in St. Thomas, fifty to the Danes and forty to the 
Brandenburgers. The cargo contained three hundred and fifty slaves. 

' Capt. Grabner took on five hundred and forty-nine negroes in Guinea. 

[320] 



APPENDIX J 



321 



LIST OF SLAVE CARGOES— Continued 



Slave Cargoes 



Ship (and 
Skipper) 


Date of 
arrival 


Registered 
from 




g 
1 


27 


20 






Cost to 
Company 
(wholesale) 


Cost to 

Planters 

(retail) 


Frederick IV 


1700 (Oct.) 


Denmark 


72 


119 




2381 


50 


90-100 


(Innes Pieter- 






















aen) 






















[Interloper] 


1701 (Jan.) 


Zeeland 












1542 






(Captain?) 






















[Interloper] 


1702 (July) 


Zeeland 


74 


21 


12 


2 




109 3 


45 


80 


(Jean Closter) 
















[IO31/3] 






[Interloper] 


1702 (Dec.) 


Zeeland 


51 


14 


18 


6 




89 4 


45 


80 


(Adrian 
















[79S/6] 






Daemes) 






















[Interloper] 


1703 (June) 


? 


77 


10 


16 


5 




108 5 


48 


85-90 


(J. Rogges- 
















[991/6] 






taert) 






















Christian V 


1704 (May) 


Denmark 


123 


126 


27 


15 


4 


295 


60 


100 


(Willem 
















[2711/3] 






Resen) 






















[Flying Hart] 


1707 (Jan.) 


Middelburg 


246 


69 


62 


10 




387 


80 


100 


(Jac. S. Voss) 
















[3562/3] 






Christian V 


1707 (July) 


Denmark 


212 


160 


13 


8 




393 8 


70 


100 


(N. C. Boom- 
















[3851/3] 






feldt) 






















[Slave vessel] ' 


1708 (Mar.) 


? 


33 


27 


13 


11 




84 


75 


100 


("Grazaleir") 
















[73] 






Red Lion 


1708 (Oct.) 


Zeeland 


139 


30 


34 


9 




212 3 


80 


100 


(Hubert 






















Freth) 






















[Flying Hart?] 


1709 (Jan.) 


Zeeland 


227 


54 


20 


12 




3139 


80 


100 


(Jac. S. Voss) 
















[2991/6] 






[Slave vessel] 


1709 (July) 


Zeeland 












85 


60 




(Captain?) 






















Two Brothers 


1709 (July) 




17 


14 


3 


5 




39 


60 


90 


(Pieter 




? 












[352/3] 






Thebeu) 























^ Three hundred died on the journey. In his letter to the Directors dated 
October 24, 1700, Lorentz mentions the misfortune that has likewise struck 
other traders, several Zeeland interlopers and English slave ships not having 
brought more than a third or a fourth safe to their destination. Gov. C. B., 
1700-03. 

2 Lorentz bought the cargo in company with Van Belle, the Brandenburg 
factor. 

^ Of these the Danish Company secured one hundred and eighteen, the Bran- 
denburgers the rest. 

* The Brandenburg factor bought eighty-eight from Capt. Daemes. 

^ The Brandenburg factor bought sixty-six. 

' Capt. B. had left Guinea on June 2 with four hundred and forty-seven 
slaves, and arrived at St. Thomas on July 23. 

' Also spelled Grazselli. 

^ Four per cent, duty brought the Company an additional eight slaves. 

^ Of these, Peter Smith bought one hundred and forty-one, and two French- 
men bought twenty-six and one hundred and seven, respectively. 



APPENDIX J 

LIST OF SLAVE CARGOES— Continued 



Slave cargoes 



















•1 






Ship (and 
Skipper) 


Date of 
arrival 


Registered 
from 


1 

1 


S 
1 


1 
19 


1 

3 


C3 
05 




Cost to 
Company 
(wholesale) 


Cost to 
Planters 
(retail) 


Rosenborg 


1709 (Aug.) 


Zeeland 


138 


22 




1871 


60 


90-95 


(Erasmus 
















[1726/6] 






MuUer) 






















The Hunter 


1710 (Jan.) 


Zeeland 












312 2 


65 


100 


(H. de Witte) 






















America 


1710 (July) 


Zeeland 


134 


26 


33 


7 




200 


65 


100 


(David Dine- 






















sen) 






















Prince Eugene 


1711 (Jan.) 


Zeeland 


^[229] 3 




16 






253 


96 




(Abr. Schil- 






















strad)* 






















[America] 


1712 (Mar.) 


Zeeland 


155 


25 


26 


6 




212 s 


70 


100 


(David Dine- 

sen) 
[Slave vessel] 
















[1965/6] 






1712 (June) 


Zeeland? 


134 


27 




32 


7 


2006 


65 


94 


(Sam. Jo- 
















[1788/6] 






chumsen) 






















[Slave vessel] 


1714 (Jan.) 


















none 


(H. de Witte) 




















sold 


New Prince 


1714 (Jan.) 


Zeeland 


76 


56 


76 


6 




216 


70 


100-96 


Eugene 
















[1733^] 






(Bastian 

Mugge) 
Papkiesborg 






















1714 (Mar.) 


Zeeland 


121 


30 


72 


3 




226 


65 


100 


(Corn. Huy- 

sing) 
Crown Prince 
















[193] 






1714 (June) 


Bergen 


49 


45 


24 


1 


7 


135 


70 


120 


(Jacques 
















[lllVs] 






Thomas) 






9 


4 


2 




3' 


18 
[15J^] 


50 





^ One hundred and eighty-seven "manquerons" were delivered back to the 
captain, who sold one hundred and twenty-seven to private buyers for 5,469 rdl. 
IMuUer's cargo is put down as consisting of Lawango negroes; those arriving in 
July are called "Calabary" or "Kalbarie" negroes, — in English, Calabar. 

2 De Witte, being able to account only for three hundred and one when he 
should have had three hundred and twelve, was charged with the difference or 
"profit" of 35 rdl. each, or 385 rdl. The Company bought two hundred and 
thirty-eight (229j^ Pies de Indies) at 65 rdl. each. Many of those remaining 
were delivered back to the captain who sold them to planters and paid the Com- 
pany the four per cent. duty. A^. J., St. Thomas, 1709-1710. 

' This includes men and women. Of the two hundred and twenty-nine, forty- 
nine were sick or "manquerons " as were six of the sixteen boys. Two hundred 
were bought first, and fifty-three later. 

* Capt. S. died immediately after arrival and Capt. Anthony Warene 
(Vareny) took his place. The remainder of the cargo (six hundred and twenty- 
six on arrival at St. Thomas) that was unsold or still alive was taken to Porto 
Bello and Carthagena. 

^ Besides these, the Company received eight in duty. 

' Jochumson's cargo consisted of Angola slaves. 

^ The lower figures represent those that were sick or "manquerons." One 



APPENDIX J 

LIST OF SLAVE CARGOES— Continued 



323 









Slave Cargoes 








Ship (and 
Skipper) 


Date of 
arrival 


Registered 
from 


i 

83 


i 

7 


- 1 
20 


0) 




Cost to 
Company 
(wholesale) 


Cost to 

Planters 

(retail) 


[Slave vessel] 


1715 (Jan.) 




8 


118 


65 


100 


(Jacob Valle) 




















[Slave vessel] 


1715 (Feb.) 












[lOSVs] 






(Corn. Lyn- 




















sen) 




















[Slave vessel] 


1715 (Apr.) 


















(Jochim 




















Gomertz) 




















[Slave vessel] 


1715 (Apr.) 


















(Alex. Ro- 




















land) 




















[Slave vessel]^ 


1715 (Sept.) 


















(Dan. Gab- 




















ion?) 




















Crown Prince 


1718 (July) 


Denmark 


104 


38 


19 


3 


164 2 


50 


120 


Christian 




















(And. Veroe) 




















[Slave vessel] 


1718 (July) 












42 


60 


80 


( Jan de Moor) 




















[Slave vessel] 


1719 (Aug.) 


















(Jacob Valle) 




















"Haabet Gal- 


1722 (Apr.) 


Denmark 


[167] 3 






34 


201 


60 


125 


ley" 














[1822/3] 






(Lor. Spang?) 




















Christiansborg 


1724 (June) 


Denmark 


142 


80 




68 


351 


70 


125 « 


(P. A. Vaeroe) 






26 


11 




24 6 








"Haabet Gal- 


1724 (Nov.) 












219 


70 


125 


ley" 




















(Lor. Spang) 




















[Slave vessel] 


1725 (Mar.) 


Netherl.? 










375 


73 


120 6 


(Jan Vergoue) 





















hundred and seventy-one negroes (sixty-eight men, fifty-seven women, twenty- 
six boys and twenty girls) were shipped from Guinea, and of these, eight men, 
five women, two boys, and five girls died en route. 

^ Capt. Gabion was allowed to sell his cargo to private buyers on payment of 
thirty per cent, "preference" to the Company. "On Capt. Gabion's slaves 
about 2600 rdl. has been gained [by the Company] through import and export 
duties." B. & D., 171Ii.-17, Gov. M. Crone to Directors (February 24, 1716). 

2 On the way from Guinea thirty-six men, seven women, four girls and five 
boys — or fifty-two slaves — had died on Capt. Veroe's (or Wserroe's) ship. B. & 
D., 1717-20 (July 8, 1718). 

^ The one hundred and sixty-seven includes men and women. 

* The profit from this cargo was about 7,464 rdl., or a little over twenty-eight 
per cent. Deducting for the twenty-one slaves retained for the Company would 
bring the profit to about thirty and one-half per cent. 

* The lower figures include the sick and " manquerons." A "Speciall-Liste" 
(5. & D., 17S1-U) dated July 14, 1724, gives the same total, but different 
subheadings. He had left Guinea with four hundred and sixteen negroes. 

^ The net profit was 16,372 rdl.,OT twenty-nine and seven-tenths per cent, from 
both Vergoue's and v. der Brocke's cargoes. 



324 



APPENDIX J 

LIST OF SLAVE CARGOES— ConfmMed 



iSiotie cargoes 



Ship (and 
Skipper) 



Date of 
arrival 



[Slave vessel] 

(A. V. d. 
Brocke) 

[ Young 
Knight] 

(George 
Jones?) 

"Jonge 
Mathys" 2 

(Charles 
Jansen) 

Christiansborg 

(Jorgen 
Mathisen) 

" Haabet Gal- 
ley " 

(Lor. Spang) 

[Slave vessel] 

(Hybregt) 

Young Virgin 

("Allewelt") 

^'Haabet" G. 

(A. H. Ham- 
mer) 

"Haabet" G. 

(A. H. Ham- 
mer) 

Countess of 
Laurwig 

(Corn. Bagge) 

Laarburg G. 

(Lor. JsBger) 



1725 (Mar.) 

1726 (July) 

1726 (Nov.) 

1727 (Feb.) 

1727 (May) 

1727 

1728 (Jan.) 

1729 (July) 

1731 (Feb.) 

1732 (June) 

1733 (May) 



Registered 
from 



Netherl.? 



Netherl.? 

Denmark 

Denmark 

Zeeland 

Denmark? 

Denmark 

Denmark 

Denmark 

Denmark 



109 
125 



124 



64 



26 



1^ 



379 
1301 



2073 

[217] i 

18 

32 5 

126 6 

557 

115 

242 ' 



Cost to 
Company 
{wholesale) 



73 



Cost to 
Planters 
{retail) 



70 
70 
50 

70 
70 
80 



123 

125 

120 
120 
100-1508 



70 -f- 120-156 



^ The government permitted the cargo to be sold to outsiders only, on pay- 
ment of 4J^ "pieces-of-eight" for each slave sold. 

^ A cargo was offered for sale, but no purchases are recorded. 

^ Two hundred and eighty-three were taken on board at the Danish Guinea 
factory, September 29, 1726. These included one hundred and fifty men, 
ninety women, twenty-nine boys, fourteen girls, whose total purchase price was 
entered at 18,216 rdl. 

* Hope Galley left Guinea on March 6, 1727, with a cargo of two hundred and 
thirty-eight. Of these, one hundred and forty-seven were men, seventy women, 
eleven boys, and ten girls. Cf. N. J. for Guinea, 1727. 

^ Forty-seven left Guinea. G = galley. 

'^ One hundred and twenty-six left Guinea May 28, 1729. 

'' These were taken on in Guinea, Dec. 28, 1729 (?). 

* The price varied according to whether payment was made in cash, or in 
cotton or sugar to be paid in six weeks' time. Of one hundred and twenty taken 
on, only one hundred and two were reported in sound condition when offered for 
sale. 

' One hundred and ninety-nine out of a cargo of four hundred and forty-three 



APPENDIX J 

LIST OF SLAVE CARGOES— Continued 



325 



Slave Cargoes 



Ship {and 
Skipper) 


Date of 

arrival 


Registered 
from 


1 


s 

i 


1 
7 


1 
5 


C3 
03 


1 

si 


Cost to 
Company 
(wholesale) 


Cost to 
Planters 
(retail) 


Countess of 


1734 (May) 


Denmark 


60 


31 




180 




115 


Laurwig 






22 


43 


7 


51 










(Corn. Bagge) 






















Jomfru 


1736 (June) 


Denmark? 












108 2 


100 


100-133 


(Knud Erich- 






















sen) 






















[A hark] 


1738 (Jan.) 


St. Eusta- 


8 


4 


35 


10 




57 






(P. Heyliger) 




tius 


















[A bark] 


1738 (Feb.) 


St. Eusta- 












10 


£18 




(Robt. Stew- 
art) 
[A hark] 




tius 


















1738 (Mar.) 


St. Euata- 


9 


14 


8 


8 




393 






(Robt. Stew- 




tius 


















art) 






















[A bark] 


1738 (Apr.) 


St. Eusta- 


20 


20 






15 


554 


£18 




(R. Stewart) 




tius 


















Countess of 


1738 (Oct.) 


Zeeland 


109 


35 


15 


11 




170 


85 




Laurwig 






















(Corn. Mar- 






















skalk) 






















Countess of 


1739 (Feb.) 


Denmark 


6 


8 


5 


1 




20 5 


75 


120-140 


Laurwig 




(Co.) 


















(J. N. Hoist) 






















Laarburg G. 


1740 (Jan.) 


Denmark 


24 


12 


6 


2 




44 


120 


130-140 


(H. Ostbye) 




(Co.) 


















Countess of 


1742 (June) 


Denmark 


19 


27 


4 


1 




51 


120 


140-155 


Laarwig 




(Co.) 


















(Capt. Hoist?) 






















Williamine 


1744 (May) 


? 


41 


40 


11 


3 




95 


130 


140-235 


Galley 






















(B. H. Pratt) 






















Postillion B. 


1746 (May) 


Denmark 












79 




150-240 


(A. Thorsen) 






















Williamine Q. 


1746 (Nov.) 


Denmark 


85 


38 


18 


5 




146 


100-150 


160-300 


(B. H. Pratt) 




(Co.) 


















Crown Pr. 


1747 (May) 


Denmark 


102 


60 


25 


8 




195 




150-300 


Desire 




(Co.) 


















(A. J. Seiero) 






















Sorgenfri 


1747 (Nov.) 


Denmark 












274 




200-285 


(D. Boysen) 






















Princess F. 


1748 (July) 


Denmark 


114 


86 


55 


20 


3 


278 




200-320 


(J. Gronberg) 






















JcBgersborg 


1749 (Jan.) 


Denmark 


77 


62 


15 


6 




160 


100 


180-270 


(O, Erichsen) 




(Co.) 


















Vesuvius 


1749 (Feb.) 


Denmark 


127 


66 


45 


14 


5 


252 


100 




(Capt.?) 




(Co.) 


















Sorgenfri 


1749 (June) 


Denmark 


120 


89 


15 


11 


7 


235 


100 


140-220 


(Capt.?) 




(Co.) 










3 









died en route of a virulent form of dysentery. Two were sold to Portuguese. 
The profit was nevertheless sixty-nine and one-half per cent, on what re- 
mained! 

^ Sick and " raanquerons," or defectives. 

2 Forty-two had died on the way from Guinea. 

^ Sold directly to planters on payment of usual four per cent. duty. 

* Capt. S. had asked 110 rdl. for the grown slaves, and 80 rdl. for the children. 

^ Capt. Hoist's cargo came from Madagascar. 



326 



APPENDIX J 



LIST OF SLAVE CARGOES— Continued 



Slave cargoes 



















¥ 














§ 






ii 


-s^ 


Cost to 


Cost to 


Ship (and 


Date of 


Registered 


si 


1 


s 






1^ 


Company 


Planters 


Skipper) 


arrival 


from 


69 


1 
53 


26 


6 
10 




(wholesale) 


(retail) 


Crown Pr. 


1750 (Feb.) 


Denmark 




161 


100 


140-220 


Desire 




(Co.) 


















(O. Reinholt) 






















Sophie Mag- 


1750 (July) 


Denmark 


27 


23 


22 


5 


3 


80 




-220 


dalene 
(Capt.?) 
Jagersborg 




(Co.) 


















1751 (Feb.) 


Denmark 


182 


82 


5 




3 


269 


100 


100-220 


(O. Erichsen) 




(Co.) 


















Sorgenfri 


1751 (July) 


Denmark 


58 


42 


23 


10 




133 


100 


150-250 


(P. K. Collin) 




(Co.) 


















Crown Pr. 


1752 (Mar.) 


Denmark 












2241 






Desire 






















(0. Reinholt) 




















-353 


Princess Wil- 


1752 (June) 


Denmark 


109 


58 


12 




2 


1812 






helmineCar. 
(N. Hoyer) 
Princess 






















1752 (Oct.) 


Denmark 


164 


81 


27 


9 


3 


2813 


100 


150-354 


Sophia Mag. 
(P. C. Sam- 




(Co.) 






































soe) 






















Jmgersborg 


1753 (Aug.) 


Denmark 


114 


58 


38 


21 




231 4 




-320 


(J. Rasmus- 






















sen) 
Patientia 


1753 (Dec.) 


Denmark 


67 


30 


38 


11 




146 5 


100 


150-300 


(O. Erichsen) 




(Co.) 


















(Brigantine) 


1754 (Mar.) 


Denmark 


1 










140 s 







^ This ship left Guinea with three hundred and thirty-eight slaves (Janu- 
ary 7, 1752). 

^ The Guinea cargo was recorded at two hundred and three slaves. 

* The Princess Sophia Magdalena left Guinea July 29 with three hundred and 
seven slaves. 

* Eighty-one died on the way, apparently. 

^ Patientia left Guinea July 30 with two hundred and seventy-five slaves. A 
mutiny of slaves on board while sailing between Cape Coast and El Mina re- 
sulted in serious loss of life and property. 

^ From this cargo, apparently privately owned, a profit of fifty per cent, was 
reported. The journey took twenty-eight days. 



APPENDIX K 

PRICES ON ST. THOMAS (1687-1751) ^ 



Year 



Sugar ^ 
(per 100 lbs.) 



Cotton Year 
(per lb.) 



Sugar 
(per 100 lbs.) 



Cotton 
{per lb.) 



1687 10 ^ 

1688 10 

1697 30-32 

1699 14-16 

1701 5 rdl. 

1702 4K-5 " 15 

1703 3J^(?)" .... 12 

1705 3 " 12 

1706 3K " 12 

1707 3-3H " ••■• 11 

1708 3 " 10 

1709 3 " 

1710 3 " 11 

1713 3 S}4 " 12 

1714 4 " 12 

1716 4>f-5 " 13-14 

1717 4K " ••■• 13 

1719 43^ " .... 13 

1720 43^ " .... 13 



1721 3}4rdl ISsk. 

1723 3 " .... 10 " 

1724 4>^ " ....12-13 " 

1727 13 " 

1728 43^ "... . 13 " 

1730 4 " .... 13 " 

1732 43^ " .... 11 " 

1733 3-43^ " ....11-13 " 

1739 3-33^ "... .14-143^" 

1740 33/^ " 

1741 4-43^ " ....12-13 " 

1742 4 " 10-11 " 

1743 4 " 12-13 " 

1744 133^" 

1747* 5 " 

1748 5 " 

1750 i^i " 2 reals 

17515 41^ « 

1752 « 



1 Prices paid by Company to planters, though not necessarily an average for 
the year. These figures are derived from many official sources, — too many for 
enumeration. 

^ Brovra sugar. 

' In 1713, the current price in the open market was reported to be 43^-5 rdl. 
per 100 lbs. 

* The St. Thomas officials reported the following prices for sugar: in Holland, 
7-9 rdl.; St. Eustatius, 5^f^ rdl.; and Curagao, 7-8 rdl. per 100 lbs. Martfeldt 
MSS., VI (February 3, 1748). 

* The governor and council on St. Croix set the price at 33^ rdl, 

* The St. Croix authorities raised the price of sugar to 43^ rdl. and fixed the 
price of cotton at 13 sk., for unpacked, and 133^ sk. for baled cotton. 



[327] 



APPENDIX L 

WEST INDIAN SUGAR EXPORTED FROM COPENHAGEN i 

(1709-1754) 

Year Quantity (lbs.) Destination Price secured 

by Company 

1709 8,950 br Lubeck 5i8 rdl. 

" 6,804 " Kiel 425 " 

" 2,519 wh " 348 " 

" 4,500 br " 281 " 

" 1,274 wh. 179 " 

" 100 " Aarhus 

" 1,169 " 120 " 

" 3.904 " Lubeck 544 " 

1710 5,000 br Dantzig 377 " 

" 2,302 wh " 263 " 

1711 4,000 br LUbeck 312 " 

" 4,500 " Kiel 351 " 

" 1,600 wh " 233 " 

" 2,160 br " 169 " 

" 228 wh " 29" 

" 5 c. " " 389 " 

" 4 c. " Dantzig 291 " 

" 317 br Elsinore 

" 285 wh " 

" 200 " Aarhus 

" 151 br " 

" 1 c. wh Kiel 94 " 

" 1 c. " " 60 " 

" 42,544 br Kiel (?) 2.659 " 

1712-20 2 

1721 6,296 br Lubeck 368 " 

" 1,000 wh Elsinore 

" 1,084 br " 

1722 6,061 " Dantzig 323" 

" 6,000 " " 312 " 

* Vdshiibnings og Passeer Sedlers Cojne—Bog, 1709-1754. This volume is 
included in a bundle, the label of which I failed to note. br. = brown sugar; 
wh.= white sugar; c.= casks (Fade). The marks and shillings are omitted. 

^ No sugar is recorded as having paid the one per cent, export duty during 
this period. 

[328] 



APPENDIX L S2& 

WEST INDIAN SUGAR EXPORTED FROM COPENHAGEN— Confonwed 

Year Quantity (lbs.) Destination Price secured 

by Company 
1723 2,617 br Konigsberg 136 rdl. 

" 11,251 " Lubeck 588 " 

1724 12,170 " Stettin 697 " 

1725 15,284 " " 875" 

1726 none 

1727 1,225 " Lubeck 68" 

" 344 " Flensborg 

" 800 " Nyborg 

1728 232 " Elsinore 

" 2,144 wh Dantzig 134 " 

1729-30 none 

1731 426 wh. (?) Bergen 

1732 230 wh. (?) Christiania 

" 298 br Bergen 

1733 238 " (?) Elsinore 

" 578 " (?) Bergen 

1734 236 " Aarhus 

1735 389 " Bergen 

" 685 " " 

1738 2 c. (?)" Slagelse 

" 1 c. " Elsinore 

1740 338 " Aarhus 

" 250 " Flensborg 

1741 58 " Laurwigen 

" 211 " " 

" 11,443 " Stockholm 

1745 400 " Aabenraa 

1746 350 sirup Nyborg 

1747 2 c. br Holstein 

" 2 c. sirup Randers 

" 64 wh. (?) Ritt (?) 

1748 none 

1749 111,864 wh Stockholm 8,815 " 

" 200 " Aarhus 

" 27,747 br Stockholm 2,456 

" 30 c. " Lubeck 1,802 

1750 '. 4,206" " 240 

" 10,966 " Stettin 628 

" 5,880 " [St.] Petersburg 336 

" 82,958 "3 Nordkioping 4,752 

" 27,766 " Stockholm 1,590 

3 The entry of 80, 20, and 26 Fade apparently refers to the 82,958 lbs. 



330 APPENDIX L 

WEST INDIAN SUGAR EXPORTED FROM COPENHAGEN— Confinwei 

Year Quantity (lbs.) Destination Price secured 

by Company 

1750 28.628 br Carlshafn 1,640 rdi. 

" 200 " Aarhus 

" 52,878 " Nordkioping 3,029 " 

" 32 " Randers 

" 200 " Christiania 

" 230 " Amsterdam 10 " 

" 2,387 " Dantzig Ill " 

" 200 " Aarhus 

" 1,249 " Stettin 58 " 

" 1,302 " Dantzig 61 " 

" 31,441 " Stettin 1,409 " 

" 3,218 " " 146 " 

1750 7,310 '* Dantzig 343 " 

1751 39,739 " [St.] Petersburg 2,276 " 

1,589 " Stettin 74 " 



. 6,796 " , " 309 

8,386 " " 384 

,42,360 " " 2,095 

. 5,176 " " ? 

. 15,451 " Lubeck 734 

. 82,261 " Stockholm 3,892 

. 129,299 " Bergen 

. 129 c. raw br Stockholm 

.205,850 br Amsterdam 9,633 



71,538 " Stettin 3,539 

37,987 " [St.] Petersburg 1,780 

153,474 " Bergen 

82,984 " Amsterdam * 3,848 

6,632 " " 310 

64,994 " Nordkioping 3,034 

86,294 " Amsterdam 4,045 

133,437 " " 6,231 

65,036 " Stockholm 3,025 

56,868 : " Gothenburg 2,634 

19,100 r. br.i5 " 895 

30,976 br Amsterdam 1,411 

77,300 " Odense 

92,182 " Amsterdam 4,201 

144,246 " Bergen 

* These are the totals of seven shipments sent to P. de Wint. 
^ r. br. = raw brown sugar; r. s. = "raw sugar." 



APPENDIX L 331 

WEST INDIAN SUGAR EXPORTED FROM COPENHAGEN— Conimwed 

Year Quantity (lbs.) Destination Price secured 

by Company 

1751 128,694 br Stettiii« 6,032 rdl. 

1752 55,714 " Stettin 2,633 " 

" 106,394 " Odense 

" 29,775 r. s Gothenburg 1,199 " 

" 144,712 br Bergen 

" 20,074 " Gothenburg' 953 " 



.158,270 " Bergen. 

.140,042 " Odense. 



" 3,428 " Ltibeck 187 

" 11,517 " Odense 

17538 101,038 " Bergen. . 



. 84,023 " Odense . . . 

. 39,749 " " 

,117,176 " Bergen 

, 78,729 " Trondhiem. 

, 74,219 " 

. 84,610 " Odense 



87,477 " Frederikshald. 

56,554 " Aalborg 

210 " Korsor 

32,854 " Aalborg 



" 38,592 " Frederikshald. 

1754 77,668 " Odense 



.134,819 " Bergen 

. 151,727 " Trondhiem . 



" 904 r. s Mediterranean 46 

" 69,373 br Frederikshald 

" 47,144 " Aalborg 

" 112,320 " Frederikshald 

" 5,015 " Ltibeck 

" 158,614 " Trondheim 

" 102,946 " Odense 

" 36,449 " Amsterdam 9 1,538 " 

" 168,136 " Frederikshald 

" 15,134 " Aalborg & Viborg 

" 168,804 " Bergen 

* Consigned to Iselin & Co. 

'' Consigned to Johan Froichen. 

* The entries from the latter part of 1752 and after refer to sugar sent to the 
shareholders in the refineries in Odense, Bergen, Trondheim, Frederikshald and 
Aalborg, Cf. above, pp. 135-136. 

' Consigned to F. Wever. 



APPENDIX M 

COMPANY'S RECEIPTS AND DEBTS AT ST. THOMAS (1688-1754) 

Certain of the Company's Receipts at St. Thomas: compiled from the account books of 
the Danish West India and Guinea Company (Rigsarkiv) . 

Weighing Debt of Debt of 

fees Co. to planters 

planters to Co. 





No. of 


Poll and 


Customs 


Year 


planters 


land tax 


receipts 


1688 






489 rdl. 


1689 






550 


1690 






. . 1,817 


1691 






. .30,1551 


1692 








1693 


37... 


... SSirdl.. 


. . 5,162 


1694-97 . . . 








1698 






. . 3,452 


1699 


32... 


... 653.... 




1700 


78... 




. . 2,643 


1701 






. . 3,233 


1702 






. . 3,065 


1703 


52... 


...1,294.... 


. . 9,574 


1704 


59... 


...2,585 


. . 5,653 


1705 


74?.. 


...2,716.... 


. . 4,112 


1706 


105?.. 


...2,715.... 


. . 3,361 


1707 


106... 


...3,050 


.. 4,184 


1708 


109... 


...2,872.... 


. . 7,027 


1709 






. . 10,688 


1710 


103... 


...3,282.... 


..11,114 


1711 




...4,201.... 


. . 9,959 


1712 




...4,504.... 


. . 10,634 


1713 


131... 


...4,937.... 


. . 6,818 


1714 


130... 


...4,838.... 


. . 5,818 


1715 


134... 


...4,821 


. . 4,903 


1716 


139... 


...5,017.... 


. . 8,236 


1717 


132... 


...5,029.... 


. . 5,778 


1718 


131... 


...6,140.... 


. . 5,619 


1719 


144... 


...6,676.... 


. . 7,464 


1720 


152... 


...6,683.... 


. . 8,869 


1721 


162... 


...6,799.... 


. . 4,992 


1722 


188... 


...6,905.... 


. . 3,099 


1723 


188. .. 


...6,971.... 


. . 7,144 


1724 


187... 


.. .7,169 


. . 7,328 


1725 


205... 


...7,891.... 


. . 7,749 



23. 

57. 

621. 



35. 
36! 

72! 
132. 

27. 
476. 
270. 
183. 
219. 
109. 
121. 
218. 
100. 
240. 
305. 
153. 
145. 

46'. 



84.. 

31.. 
.1,9952 
. 373.. 



.37,787 160,445 

11 75,876 177,120 

42 8,573 209,438 

279 80,197 210,129 

1726 211 8,063 4,927 142 84,278 211,331 

1727 215 8,078 5,208 511 67,044 200,486 

1728 3 190 7,785 6,018 1,117 61,732 163,357 

1729 182 7,123 5,335 252 41,960 160,473 

1730 168 5,814 6,324 351 14,967 138,306 

1731 166 6,769 6,884 447 12,033 102,277 

1732 163 6,859 6,462 365 10,565 109,194 

1733 171 6,891 6,489 409 22,972 123,241 

1734 167 7,169 5,158 276 23,810 117,396 

^ See above, pp. 84-87, for story of seizure of Brandenburg goods. 

* Includes moneys collected for several years past, and now disgorged by 
guilty official. 

^ Before 1729, the fiscal year ended in March, so the figures entered under 
1728 refer to the year from March, 1728, to March, 1729. With 1730 the fiscal 
year is considered to end in December, and hence the records for 1730 apply 
only to eleven months. 

[332] 



APPENDIX M 333 

COMPANY'S RECEIPTS AND DEBTS AT ST. TUOM AS— Continued 

No. of Poll and Customs Weighing Debt of Debt of 

Year Planters Land Tax Receipts Fees Co. to planters 

planters to Co. 

1735 177 7,225 6,896 370 25,763 84,694 

1736 158 6,440 6,306 469 28,758 87,580 

1737 164 5,054 4,817 129 20,117 99,961 

1738 158 5,452 7,524 703 2,558 119,750 

1739 150 5,342 6,226 325 31,305 109,512 

1740 149 5,087 4,366 543 14,096 143,488 

1741 141 5,053 5,772 209 23,877 71,606 

1742 145 5,153 8,186 591 26,035 82,956 

1743 138 4,807 8,006 468 21,543 125,347 

1744 143 4,798 8,083 561 12,216 126,378 

1745 152 4,427 10,074 671 19,809 133,754 

1746 153 4,474 21,512 1,221 24,805 193,315 

1747 150 4,637 19,561 1,113 27,272 329,065 

1748 151 4,945 21,667 1,041 41,301 357,931 

1749 157 5,115 16,971 888 31,599 279,668 

1750 163 5,335 12,226 989 71,159 317,279 

1751 165 5,552 14,947 877 42,549 385,243 

1752 151 5,551 10,448 773 83,611 443,376 

1753 160 5,545 16,754 1,078 40,272 491,601 

1754 168 5,745 10,830 1,036 34,409 503,515 



APPENDIX N 

COMPANY'S RECEIPTS AND DEBTS AT ST. CROIX (1741-1753) 

Certain of the Company's Receipts at St. Croix: compiled from the account books of 
the Danish West India and Guinea Company (.Rigsarkiv) . 

No. of Poll and Customs Weighing Debt of Debt of 

Year Planters land tax receipts i fees Co. to planters 

planters to Co. 

1741 76i rdl 52 rdl. ... 3,095 rdl... . 41,171 rdl. 

1742 84 2,807 rdi.... 1,267 66 3,065 41,180 

1743 122 2,589 972 64 2,949 49,863 

1744 202 4,029 1,868 83 3,347 57,869 

1745 199 4,662 1,773 108 12,464 76,058 

1746 195 4,529 3,733 171 15,864 98,633 

1747 207 5,158 8,202 250 20,313 136,007 

1748 204 5,402 8,887 234 25,111 202,941 

1749 218 5,830 9,139 286 35,187 79,642 

1750 246 7,107 10,458 408 69,186 169,788 

1751 288 7,687 26,465 392,425 

1752 332 8,081 13,358 562 25,619 452,866 

1753 355 8,624 13,976 673 16,125 562,089 

^ These totals, given in rdl. only, are those made up by the Company's officials. 
The greater number of the figures given exceed by 50 rdl. or more the totals de- 
rived from the Company's cash books, where the receipts are entered month by 
month. 



[334] 



APPENDIX O 

CAPITAL INVESTED AT ST. THOMAS UNDER PLAN OF 1747 1 

Fixed 2 Circulating 3 Private ^ Interest s Rate of ' 

capital capital capital paid interest 

1747 108,534 83,163 7,169 037 

1748 108,921 62,966 292,235 8,182 047 

1749 116,034 75,208 281,255 11,921 062 

1750 123,200 136,831 284,584 14,556 056 

1751 128,854 194,264 269,910 16,901 052 

1752 129,546 238,343 262,855.. 20,563 056 

1753 129,826 297,445 279,172 22,480 052 

1754 127,734 275,842 280,858 25,753 063 

^ From Negotie Journaler for St. Thomas. See above, pp. 221-222. 
2 Capital Conto vedk. Comps. faste og staaende Fond. 
^ Capital Conto vedk. Comps. circulerende Fond. 
^ Capital Conto vedk. Comps. particulaire Vahre og tilstaaende Gield. 
^ Interesse Conto. 

' The rate is calculated on the basis of the "fixed" and "circulating" capital, 
and the results are oflFered for what they may be worth. 



[335] 



APPENDIX P 

THE COMPANY'S BUSINESS IN BROWN SUGAR 

(An estimate based on its account books) i 

Income Outgo 2 

Year Lbs. [Year] [Lbs.] 

1700 there came in 513,732 1700 waste 3 deducted 6,382 

and 356,568 and 2,158 

1701 94,456 1701 deducted 2,612 

and 209,149 1702 " 6,052 

1702 and 1703 560,545 1703 and 1704 nothing deducted. 

1704 726,683 1705 ] 

1705 445,533 1706 } nothing [deducted]. 

1707 J 

1706 299,539 1708 waste deducted 205,869 

1707 723,992 



1708 to May 4 378,779 223,073 



4,310,976 
[4,308,976] 



During the period that the late Diderich Mogensen was factor, the waste deducted is 
found to have amounted to about five and a quarter per cent. 

1709 there came in 1,036,048 1709 ] '^^ ^^^^^ deducted. 

1710 659,212 1710 L here either 

1711 93,085 1711 j ""^"^ '^'^^^ "*^®'^- 

1712 •. . . 321,573 1712 deducted "without money." 

Total 95,276 

1713 554.660 1713 none. 

During thia period, during the greater part of which likewise Diderich Mogensen was 
factor, the deducted waste is found to have amounted to a little over three and a half per 
cent. 

1714 659,666 1714 1 „„ ^„ .„ ,)^a.,„'-^a 

1715 2731425 1715 [ °° "^^^^^ deduced. 

1716 131,114 1716 92,603 

1,064,205 

During Soeberg's term as factor, the waste is found to have amounted to a trifle more 
than eight and one-half per cent. 

1717 694,576 1717 ] 

1718 248,861 1718 

1719 513,713 1719 \ no waste deducted. 

1720 617,944 1720 

1721 135,620 1721 J 

During SchnelfejI's and Jan Vlak's terms as factor, no waste is found to have been de- 
ducted in the books, hence the same brown sugar from those years remains, viz.. 38,846 
lbs. net, which makes a tolerable waste, viz., about one and three-fourths per cent., which 
waste will be deducted, in so far as it will be necessary to determine the actual stock on hand. 

^ Translated from Secret-Protocollen for St. Thomas, 1729-1730. This com- 
pilation was made by Philip Gardelin at the instance of the privy comicil of the 
island, about 1729. 

- For saa ndt som dend paa W. & T. Reigning afskrevne Leccage angaaer. 

^ Leccage. 



[336] 



APPENDIX Q 

THE COMPANY'S BUSINESS IN COTTON 
(For factor Soeberg's time, according to tlie books) i 



Income 
Year] Lbs. 

[1714 43,986 

1715 14,666 

1716 to Sept. 14 28,927 

85,578 
So he (Sijeberg) may have 
charged against him only the 
stock that the books for 1713 in- 
dicate to have been on hand, 

which is 5,956 

Hence there still remains on 
Soeberg's cotton account 927 



Outgo 

[Year] Lhs. 

1714 delivered 38,093 

1715 15,386 

1716 to Sept. 9 27,423 

Stock delivered to Schnelfejl, ac- 
cording to books 1,923 

82,825 
The Commission has decided that 
Soeberg must pay, for cotton 
taken out of the warehouse for 
Crone and himself 11,636 



94,461 



94,461 



Estimate of cotton [handled] in Schnelfejl's time. 

Received from Soeberg: 

Stock, ace. to books 1,923 

1716 from Sept. inclusive] 757 

1717 until his death, Oct. 24 25,923 

Also for what Soeberg deUvered 

in 1717, which he is credited with 
by the Commission, but not until 
now in the books 1,103 



1716 nothing delivered out. 

1717 to his death 6,775 

Stock at Schnelfejl's should then be 22,931 

29,706 



29,706 

[Cotton handled] in factor Jan Vlak's time. 

On hand 22,931 

1717 from Sept 3,479 

1718 23,096 

1719 30,591 

1720 26,786J^ 

1721 to May 15 — on the 19th he 

was suspended — there came in 10,810 

For what Soeberg had dehvered 
in 1718 according to Jan Vlak's 
own account, with which the Com- 
mission has credited him, but 
which has not been observed until 
now 1,685 

. . . [ ] abus which ought to be de- 
ducted from the capital account. . 4,670 



1717 deUvered from Oct. 10 10,991 

1718 37,412 

1719 26,970}^ 

1720 30,407 

1721 to April 29 8,760J^ 

DeUvered to Stage after being 
properly inventoried 915 

Hence Vlak has fallen short in his 

cotton account 8,592J^ 



1 24,048 J^ 



124,0481^ 



iFrom Secret-Protocollen for St. Thomas (1729-1730), compiled by Ph. 
Gardelin at instance of St. Thomas privy council, about 1729. 



[337] 



APPENDIX R 

RETURNS ON COMPANY'S CAPITAL 

" Getoinst og Verlies Debet til Capital Conto " . . . " saameget er udi dette Aar 
vide Gewinst og Verlies Reigningen, Gud vcere writ, netto vundet som paa Capital 
Conto p[er] Soldo hentransporteres." 

Numbers in parentheses refer to months, thus: 4 = April. 

Year Rdl.^ Year Rdl. 

1688 3,825 1715 

1689 (4-10) 748 1716 4,506 

1690 1,669 1717 12,016 

1691 35,998 1718 8,698 

1692 no acc't 1719 12,650 

1693 2 642 1720 25,095 

1694-97 1721 10,222 

1698 (Aug.) j 1722. . 12,973 

\ 14,020 1723 25,036 

1700 (Feb.) I 1724 28,386 

1700 14,825 1725 21,792 

1701 2,904 1726 [loss— 662] 

1702 (2-6) 5,948 1727 14,729 

1703 29,180 1728 8,698 

1704 18,844 1729 35,386 

1705 6,678 1730 15,704 

1706 5,183 1731 26,449 

1707 22,899 1732 28,073 

1708 18,885 1733 39,760 

1709 26,008 1734 2,525 

1710 32,312 1735 29,610 

1711 21,366 1736 15,561 

1712 30,998 1737 4.782 ^ 

1713 12,163 1738 15,165 « 

1714 30,879 1739 11,932 

^ The marks and skilling are omitted here. 

"^ The Thormohlen and Arff leases covered most of this period. 

* "Because of the many expenses in connection with St. Croix." 

*" Gewinst til Capital Conto burde voire mere, da der paa Negere de Robert 
Steicart og Cornells Marskalk ere vundne mindst 6,000 rdl., men det beregnes 
1739." 

[338] 



APPENDIX R 339 

RETURN ON COMPANY'S CAPITAL— Con^znaei 

Year Rdl. Year EM, 

1740 8,912 1748 34,631 

1741 15,991 1749 21,323 * 

1742 8,929 1750 19,384 

1743 15,040 1751 24,684 

1744 20,265 1752 20,159 

1745 23,278 1753 34,211 

1746 32,363 1754 28,567 

1747 29,418 

^ " Vedk Comps. particulaire Vahre og tUstaaende Gield." 



APPENDIX S 



ST. THOMAS STATISTICS: MISCELLANEOUS (1700-1708; 1723-1754) 



Salaries 

1700 3,151 rdl. 

1701 3,279 

1702 1.085 

1703 4.694 

1704 

1705 3.989 

1706 2,978 

1707 3,082 

1708 

1723 6,368 

1724 10,665 

1725 10,318 

1726 6,026 

1727 10,323 

1728 7,211 

1729 8,359 

1730 13,501 

1731 9,145 

1732 9,121 

1733 9,389 

1734 7,912 

1735 8,189 

1736 8,525 

1737 10,251 

1738 9,461 

1739 10,820 

1740 9,983 

1741 10,626 

1742 10,203 

1743 9,484 

1744 8,338 

1745 8.418 

1746 8.960 

1747 9,827 

1748 9,360 

1749 10,036 

1750 15,553 

1751 13,482 

1752 14,057 

1753 14,557 

1754 13,633 



Governor's 
table 



Interest 
account 



.5,9511 



671. 



9,750 

9,750 

9,750 

9,750 

9,750 

9,7.50 

9,750 

9,750 

6,620 10,570 

10,570 

10,570 

3,109 10,570 

347 10,570 

5,876 10,570 



671 25,313 10,570 

671 10,457 10,570 

671 11,009 10,570 

671 18,208 10,570 

671 6,925 10,570 

671 3,265 20,385 

18,130 22,627 

3,849 

1,065 

4,482 

3,056 

1,940 

1,911 

2,421 

2,137 

3,303 

3,471 

4,445 

7,169 10,000 

8,182 

11.921 

14,556 

16,901 

20,563 

22,480 

25,753 



Value of Ammunition 
Christianfort account 

9,750 rd« 4,825 rdJ. 

4,757 
6,561 
6,213 
5,900 
5,835 
5,874 
5,783 
6.025 
4,988 
4,410 
4,902 
4,605 
4,924 
5,651 



.5,780 
. 5,700 
.5,721 
. 6,078 
.5,547 
.4,606 
.3,904 
.4,528 
.4,509 
.4,738 
.4,629 
.4,527 
.4,142 
.4,141 
.3,835 
.3,399 
.3,997 
.3,982 
.4,537 
.3,011 
.3,201 
.4,607 
.4,523 
.4,553 
.5,333 
.4,544 



^ This represents the accumulated expenses of several years. Governors 
Crone and Bredal each had long, ■ tedious disputes with the directors con- 
cerning allowances for table expenses. 



3401 



1742.. 

1743. . 

1744. . 

1745. . 

1746. . 

1747 . . 

1748. . 

1749. . 

1750. . 
1751. . 
1752 . . 
1763. . 



APPENDIX T 

ST. CROIX STATISTICS: MISCELLANEOUS (1742-1753) 

Lost or gained on 
Salary'- "Interest Princess LaGrange Value of^ Value of ^ Profit on^ 
account account" plantation plantation Princess LaGrange capital 

.4,826 539 4,173 23,54.0 4,752 

.4,635 983 4,134 25,005 4,426 

. 4,266 1,616 2.781 25,162 4,763 

. 5,769 2,524 2,254 —46 26,097 3,520 7,446 

. 7,128 4,370 4,383 —194 26,178 3,770 14,902 

. 5,822 6,622 11,023 —617 38,088 8,216 37,002 

. 6,732 11,127 — 4,064 — 4,509 60,889 11,716 

. 8,314 4,207 1,614 —1,635 65,559 14,947 6,820 

.10,256 38,660 1,493 —1,107 67,718 14,676 

67,966 14,595 

.10,845 23,791 8,236 —337 78,568 38,660 40,291 

. 9,739 29,778 9,353 —655 78,888 39,930 50,365 



1 Sallario Conto. 

^ The Princess plantation lay a short distance northwest from Christiansted; 
La Grange, on the shores of West End Bay. Both belonged to the Company. 
See map of St. Croix, opposite p. 248. 

^ The writer makes no attempt to explain the apparent discrepancy between 
the inventory value of LaGrange plantation, and the losses recorded against 
it. The accounts of the Company often arouse fear and wonder rather than 
understanding in the observer. Perhaps they fulfil thereby their intended mis- 
sion. 

^ These figures seem to represent the returns on the capital invested by the 
Company upon St. Croix. 



[341] 



APPENDIX U 

LIST OF SHAREHOLDERS IN THE ROYAL CHARTERED DANISH 
WEST INDIA AND GUINEA COMPANY, AND SHARES HELD IN 
THE COMPANY AND REFINERY IN THE YEAR 1751 ^ 

Company Refinery 
shares shares 

1. Det Kongelige Huus. 

Hans Kongl, Mt. Vores Allernaadigste Konge 8 2 

Hendes Mayt. Dronningen Lovise 4 1 

Hendes Kongl. Hoihed Princesse Charlotte Amalia 16 4 

2. Prseses. 

Hans Hoi Graevel. Excel. Hr. Geheime Raad og Oberhof- 

marechal Adam Gotlob Moltke 8 2 

3. Directeureme. 

Hr. Justitz Raad Peter Lemvig 10% 2 

Hr. Etatz Raad Herman L. Klocker 8 2 

Hr. Agent Johan Friderich Vewer 7 2 

" " Joost von Hemmert 8 2 

4. Hoved Participanterne. 

Hr. Etatz Raad Johannes Valeur 5}^ 1 /a 

" Capitaine Jesper Richardt 7 1% 

" Justitz Raad Oluf Blach 8 2 

5. 

Sr. Hans Christian Oelgoed 8 2 

" Peter Boertman 7 S 

6. Participantere. 
Hans Hoy Graevel. Excel. Hr. Ferdinand Anthon Grsev af 

Danneschiold til Lauerwigen 9 3 

Hr. Feldtmarschal og General Schulenborg 4 1 

Hr. Geheime Raad von Berchentin 4 1 

Afg. Hr. Geheime Raad von Schulin 4 1 

Hans Excel. Hr. Vice Statholder Geheime Conferentz Raad 

Jakob Benzon 20^ 4% 

Hr. General og Commandant M. Numsen 8 2 

Hr. Geheime Conf . Raad Claus v. Reventlau 2 1 

1 From Werlauff MSS. No. 22, Royal Library. On account of the impossibil- 
ity of finding exact equivalents for many of the titles, they are transcribed as 
they are found in the manuscript, nor is any attempt made to correct the tran- 
scriber s spelling. 

[842] 



APPENDIX U 343 

LIST OF SHAREHOLDERS— Confonwed Company Refinery 

shares shares 

Afgt. Hr. Geh. Conf . Raad og Baron Gersdorf 2 

Afgt. Hr. Geh. Conf. Raad Grseve af Gyldensteen ... 7 l^/g 

Afgt. Hr. Geheinae Raad og Baron Christian Gylden- 

crone IM IM 

Hr. Geheime Raad Carl von Holstein 2 3^ 

" " " Fridrich W. von Holstein 2 J/^ 

" " " von der Osten 8 2 

" " " og Baron von Dehn 4 1 

" " " Demerciere 2 3^ 

" " " Victor von Plessen 4 1 

" " " Eggert. Christ, v. Linstow 5 2 

" OttoKot 1 1 

" " " Oberhofmester von Juel 2 J^ 

" " " Ober Jsegermester von Gram 4 1 

" " " Ober Kammer Junker V. der Liihe 3 % 

Afgt. Stiftamtmand Adolph Andreas von der Liihe 

Ridder 5 2 

Hr. Stiftamtmand Holger Scheel Ridder Johan Albrecht 

Vith Ridder 2 1 

Hr. Vice Admiral Friderich Hoppe 234 /9 

Hr. Vice Admiral Wilhelm Lemvig ^/g 3^ 

Hr. Envoye Extraordinaire Walther Titly 4 1 

Hr. Kanuuer Herre Buchwaldt 4 1 

" " " Christian von Stocken 5 1 

" " " von Stafifelt 1 

" WUlum Berregaard 10 2j^ 

Frue Geheime Raadinde Enke af Holstein 4 1 

Frue Grsevinde Knudt 8 2 

" " Amalia Georgine von Schmettau 1 34 

Froken Hofmesterinde von der Osten 12 3 

Afg. Frue Baronesse von Gersdorf 12 2 

Frue Wibeke Krag Generalinde von Eindten 1 3 

Frue Generalinde von Stocken 4 1 

Hr. Conf erentz Raad Hans Seidelin 43^ 3^ 

" SchoUer 2 }4 

" " afgt. Carl von Brandt 2 2 

" " " afgt. Lars Benzon 23^ 1 

" " " Baron Matthias von Gyldencrone .. . 1 34 

Frue Conferentz Raadinde Rostgaard 103^ 23^ 

Hr. Etatz Raad Friderich Holmsted 13}4 

" " " Gregorius Klauman 8 2^ 

" " " Laurits Munck 2 3^ 

" Johan F. Friis 8 2 



g44 APPENDIX U 

LIST OF SHAREHOLDERS— Contonwed Company Refinery 

Shares Shares 

Afg. Etatz Raad Severin Wartberg 3 % 

" Thomas Bartholin 23^ 2 

Frue Etatz Raadinde Weyse. /.>;, 2J^ 1 

Kammer Jomfrue Packo 4 1 

Hr. Hof Predicant Bluhme 3 

Hr. Lt. (?) Able le maire 1 }4 

" Oberst Lieutenant Hans Albert von der LUhe 1 

" " " " Christian SchoUer 1 J^ 

Frue Anna Stokfleth SI. Oberste Brugmans 1 J<C 

Hr. Major Friderick Scholler 1 J^ 

" Brand Major Johan Boye Junge 1 J^ 

Frue Commandeur MUhlenforts 4 1 

Kammer Junker Adam Levin von Dincklage 3 

Hr. Commandeur Capitaine Gyntelberg paa Hr. Cancel- 

lieraad Laurentz Kreyers Naf u 3 2 

Hr. Justitz Raad Diderick Chr. Lemvig J<£ ^ 

" Schroder 1 M 

" " " Putachier 3 % 

" " " Johan Finckenhagen 2 34 

" " " Bredo Munthe 4 1 

" " " Henrich de Hielmstierne 2 J^ 

" " " Anthon Fabritius 1 1 

" " " Klarup 1 1 

" " " Christian Lintrup 5 M 

" " " afg. Iver Jentoft J^ 1 

Hr. Agent Just Fabritius 5 1 

" " Pieter van Hurk 1 1 

*' " Herman de Place 4 1 

afgh. Andreas Biorn 43 4% 

Fr. Justitz Raadinde Henrichsen 4 1 

Hr. Capitaine Michael Johan Herbst 2 J^ 

" " og Reg. Qv. Mester Peter Kellerman 1 J^ 

" afgt. T. G. Vieth 1 M 

Hr. Cancellie Raad Hans Riegelsen 2 M 

" " Simon Borthuus 2 J4 

Hr. Kammer Raad Rasmus Fugl 2 H 

" " " Georg Henrich Johan Schmieden 2 H 

" " " Jens Erick Hauck 1 1 

Hr. Consistorial Raad Provst Mathias Hvid 2 }4 

Froken Margrethe Lemvig 2 J^ 

Frue Assessor Johan Laverentzen 2 J^ 

Hr. Raadmand Thomas Ziemer 4 

Hans Hoist de Place 6 1 



APPENDIX U 345 

LIST OF SHAREHOLDERS— Confenwed Company Refinery 

shares shares 

Hr. Raadmand Johan Fridrick Holmsted 1 2 

" " Johan Didrich Bechman 2 J^ 

Hr. Apothequer Christopher Herfort Mangor 1 J^ 

Hr. Laugmand Johan Arndt Jentof t 2 J^ 

Hr. Rg. Qvart. Mester Otto Borthuus 5 M 

Hr. Inspecteur og Landsdommer P. Kraft 2 3^ 

Hr. Borgemester Johan Daniel Baiur 6 1 

Hr. Vice Borgemester Gabriel Ferdinand Milan 2 3^ 

Hr, Secreterer Breton ville 4 1 

" " Denis Lucass 1 J^ 

Hr. Johan de Lehn 23^ 1 

Hr. Friderich de Peloy 1 34 

" Thomas Blixenchiold 2 3^ 

" Peter Henrich Meyer Ober Kiobmand og 2 ^^ Stemme 

i det Secrete Raad i Tranquebahr 2 3^ 

" afgt. Johannes Laurens von Castenschiold 5 3^ 

" afgt. Commandant paa St. Thomas Friderick Moth ... 5 3^ 

Hr. Christen Host 1 3^ 

Hr. Slotsforvalter Bernhard Voldenberg 1 1 

Soe Qvsesthuuset i Kiobenhafn 20 

Hr. Taxadeur Jaeger 34 

Johan Ludvig Abbestee 1 34 

Lyder Schielderop 8 2 

Johan Christopher Cramer 1 ^/g 

Abraham Pelt 4 1 

Peder Morbeck 1 1 

Reinhard Iselin ^/g 

Johan Friderich Gibring 4 1 

Andreas Kellinghuusen 2 3^ 

Peter and Johan Wasserf all 1 3^ 

Johan Conrad Colsman 1 l/g 

Henrich Peter Werner 1 34 

Niels Schot 4 1 

Sven KSbke 2 }4 

Fridrich Barfoed 1 ^/g 

Carl Fitzman 3^ 3^ 

Herman Murcken 1 3^ 

Povel Pletz 2 ^/g 

Christopher Bartholin 23^ 

Eggert Rasmusen 1 l/g 

Johan Lyders 2 3^ 

Arnoldus de Fine Olivarius 2 

Peter Ursin 1 



346 APPENDIX U 

LIST OF SUABEBOLDERS— Continued Company Refinery 

shares shares 

Hr. Johan Jiirgen von Bergen 1 

" Joseph Zyber 2 J^ 

Mr. Pierre Boue & Sohue 2 J^ 

" Morten Kirchetorp 1 J^ 

afg. Casserer Daldorph 5 2 

" Messieurs Johan Peter Isenberg & Sohn 4 1 

[afg.?] Martin Vsern 8 Ij^ 

Casserer Johan Fridrich Dalen 5j^ 1 

Equipage Mester Christian Fridrich Irgens 1 

Bogholder Peder Brandorph 1 J^ 

Andreas Lossejus Dreger 1 

Madame U. Johannes Colsman 1 ^/g 

" de la Tour 1 

Jomf rue Marie Kirstine Meyer 4 1 

" Christine Deichman 1 J^ 

" Catharina Elizabeth Colsman 1 J^ 

" Marie Gerdrant Colsman 1 J^ 

Gud giv Lykke og Velsignelse 4 1 

N. B. Hr. Etatz Raad Klaumann. 
Meliora Speramus. 

N. B. Hr. Biskop Pontoppidan 2 J^ 

Meliora Speramus. 

N. B. Hr. Professor Reus 2 J^ 

Devise: A. M. T. 

N. B. Hr. Terchelsen 4 1 

Devise: G. C. B. & C. F. B. 

N. B. Casserer Dahlen 1 

Devise: B. J. M. 

N. B. Bertel Jacobsen MoUer 1 

Jomfrue Anna Catharina Hermanst J^ 

" Maria Catherina de Riddere H 

Hr, Hieronymo Alberto de Lindeman Baron de Nevelstein . 5 1 

Johannes Henricus Emmerechts 1 

Pierre Frangois Hermans. 
Madame Angela Borckelman H. L. Franciscus van te Wenter 

Enke 1 

Hr. Guillaume de Troy (?) 2 M 

" Jan Bap*"' Bosch 2 }4 

D'Heer Frangois Joseph Chapel 2 J^ 

Hr. Poul Jacobs 1 J^ 

" Charles Joseph de Man 2 J^ 

" Johannes Jacobus Moretus 16 4 

" Cornelius von Winghen 3 % 



APPENDIX U 347 

I LIST OF SHAREHOLDERS— CowfowMeci Company Refinery 

shares shares 

D'Heer Henry Geelhand Heere van Meraen 12 3 

Hr. Caspar Baudier 4 1 

Anthoine Andre Dendon 4 ^ 1 

" Louis Frangois de Coninck 8 2 

Jouffrouw Maria Catharina Wermoelen 2 }^ 

Hr. Jean Roggens 2 3^ 

Thomas Josephus de Bie 4 2 

Anthonio Gerhardo Wellens 4 1 

Jacobus Theodoras Wellens 5 1 

Peter Anthon Wellens 8 2 

Norberto Lovies de Vael 12 4 

Josephus de Potter 1 1 

Jean F. M. Lunde 8 2 

Gotf riede Ullens 4 1 

Pieter Nic de Vos 4 2 

Jean Bastyn 4 1 

Fransiscus Emanuel van Ertborn 12 3 

Joan Kramp 2 ^ 

Josephus Albertus Bartelo 2 

Chevalier Engelbertus Maria Borrekins 8 2 

Hr. T. de Jonge 6 1}4 

Madame Weduve Amoldt de Pret 4 1 

Madame Maria Isabella Clare Goris 4 1 

Hr. Gotfried Josephus von Possenrode (?) 4 1 

" Johannes Josephus & Judserus (?) Hubertus Pelgrom . . 2}^ 

" Michael Auvray 4 1 

" Johannes Josephus Pelgrom 1 

" Joan Bap ° Guielmo Joseph Vicomte de Fraula Heere 

van Rosier bois 8 2 

Juffrouw Anna Philippina & Isabella Regina Reyns 1 

D'Heer Balthazar Moretus 8 2 

" Charles VUain XIII 1 

Hr. Theodoras Meulemaer 2 3^ 

Hr. Baron W. von Krassow 3 

Madame Maria Boon Weduve van de Heer Jacques Schen- 

aerta 4 1 

Hr, Adrian Jansen 1 1 

D'Heer Jean FrauQois Le Grelle, Cum Uxore Maria Isabella 

Broeta 4 1 

" Guillielmus F. Le Grelle 4 1 

" Norbert Goris 6 1 

" F. F. Moretus 4 J4 

Joncker Petrus van Schorel Heer van Vilryk 2 



848 APPENDIX U I 

LIST OF SHAREHOLDERS— Contera«ed Company Refine\ 

shares sharei 

Joncker Joannes Bap^° Cock Scheppen 1 

D'Heer Peter Neyhaus 4 1 i 

Me. Vrouw I. B. Cogels 24 1 | 

Hr. Petrus Verbert 1 i] 

D'Heer Jan Henry Lienard 4 Ip 

" Joncker Petrus van Schorel Heere van Vilryck, en de u 

Vrouwe Anna Maria de Clewes 2 11 

Hr. Petrus Reneus van Maes 1 | 

D'Heer J. G. Knyff 8 2 j 

D'Heer Michael Joannes Anthonius Kuyff 1 

" Jodocus Morell 4 1 I 

Hr. Adrian Vleshouwer 4 1 

Juffrouw Joanna van Laer 4 1 

D'Heer Anthonia Le Begge 4 1 | 

" Jean Joseph Pintens 2 J^ 

" Charles I. Roose 4 1 

Me. Vrouw Maria Theresia Carolina Knyff Douariere ' van 

Joan Carlos Bosschardt 12 3 

D'Heer Jean Andre Pietier 4 1 

D'Heer F. F. Stevens 7 Ih 

Madame La Douariere van Collin de Bomhout 2 J^ 

D'Heer Joan van Eersel 4 1 ! 

Hr. Bernardo Rottier 2 Ji 

" Jan B. F. Torfs 2 h 

" F. Xaverius Pick 2 }i 

Dame Anna Maria Catharina van den Branden Douariere I 

van de Heer Carlo Francisco de Bosschardt 4 1 I 

Hr. Guilliame Vrancke a Loven 4 1 j 

" Franciscus Engelgrave 4 1 I 

D'Heer Jean Alexander Guyot 4 1 i 

Me. Juffrouw Isabella von Laer 2 H 

D'Heer Josephus Alexander de Pauw 2 J^ 

" Peter Jaspers 2 J^ 

Hr. Petrus Joannes von Setter 4 1 : 

" Noe Hellin 2 ^ 

" Jean Charles Cocqueel 4 1 j 

" Guilielmo Carlo Lunden 8 2 

" Joes E. Pieters 4 1 

D'Heer James Dormer 4 1 

Hr. Samuel Diderick Mutzenbecker 1 34 

" Bosanquet 2 1 

Madame Sal. Herman Rendorfs 2 J^ 

^ Dowager. 



APPENDIX U 349 

!!| 

ij LIST OF SHAREHOLDERS— Confe'rewed Company Refinery 

I shares shares 

JHr. Jon Frangois Maximilian de Baltin Raedt en Secre- 

! tarius der Stadt Antwerpen 2 J^ 

}Hr, Leonardus de Bie. 2 

jjuffrouw Isabella Frangois de Bie 2 

JMe. Vrouw de Weduwe van de Heer Frangois Mols 4 1 

] Summa 1,000 250 



INDEX 



Achard, F. C, Berlin chemist, 253 
Adeler, F. C, 190 
Adeler, Kordt, Danish admiral, 35 
Aix la Chapelle, peace of (1748), 234 
Alaska, purchase of, 257, 259 
American Revolution. See Revolu- 
tion. 
Amiens, Peace of (1802), 251 
Anguilla, English Leeward island, 113 
Antigua, 12, 24, 53, 115. 229 
Area of Danish West Indies, 2 
ArflF, N. J., 81, 95-97, passim, 104 

(n. 36), 141, 145, 205 
Asiento, 89, 137, 227 
Augsburg League, War of, 81, 187, 208 

B 

Barbados, 11, 40. 49, 115, 116, 127, 

138, 215, 252 
Barbuda, 12 
Barlovento fleet. 111 
Beer, G. L., cited, 47, 117, 138 (n. 4, 

5). 141 
Bellamont, Lord, governor of New 

England, 114, 115, 118 
Benbow, John, English rear-admiral, 

117, 118 
Bergen, 13, 19, 31, 36, 37, 136, 238, 

merchants in West India trade, 44 

(n.), 98 
Berlin, 86 
Bermudas, 11, 12 
Bemstorff, A. P., 247 
Bemstorff, J. H. E., 240, 243 
Berregaard, C. 190 
Beverhoudt, John, 38, 169, 173 
Bille, Steen A., 53 (n. 22), 66 (n. 66) 



Biss, Thomas, 50 

Blenacq, Count of, 110 

Board of Trade, 22, 23, 27, 31, 32, 45, 

104, 179, 180, 190, 191, 221, 240, 

306-314 
Bond, George, English pirate, 53 

(n. 21), 55 
Bonnoust, Pierre, 210, 211 
Bosal negroes, 157, 159 
Boston, 231 
Brandenburg African Company, 70; 

chapter III; 97, 99-104, 108-112. 

116-120, 130, 131, 142, 145. 146 
Brandenburg, Elector of, 44, 70, 71- 

77, 83, 87, 88, 90, 91, 93, 94 
Brazil, 19, 137 
Breda, treaty of (1667), 24 
Bredal, Erik, governor, 128-130; 

signature (1731), 128, 181, 184, 192, 

193, 196, 197, 201, 246 (n. 4), 315- 

317 
Brehan, L. R. H. de. See Pl6lo. 
Bremen, 1, 191. 309 
British West India islands, 139. See 

also Barbados, Nevis, Montserrat, 

etc. 
Brochard, J. C. See Champigny. 
Bromsebro, Peace of (1645), 19 
Brun, Constantine, Danish minister, 

260, 261 
Buccaneers in West Indies, 25, 47-51 
Burgher council, 232, 239 
Burke, William, Irish trader, 49, 115- 

119. passim. 

C 

Cabo Cor so. See Cape Coast. 

Caille, Moses, 64, 80 

Calvinist faith, 190. 191. 210, 214 



351 



352 



INDEX 



Campeachy, 26, 41, 134, 233 

Cape Coast, Guinea, 21, 76 

Cape Three Points, Guinea, 73, 139 

(n.7) 
Capel, Arthur. See Essex, Earl of 
Cargoes, character, distribution, etc., 

134-136 
Caribbean and General Gazette, West 

Indian newspaper, 244 
Caribs. See Indians. 
Carlile, Charles, English captain, 53 
Carloff, Henry, Swedish factor in 

Guinea, 20, 21 
Carolina and paper money, 196 
Carstensen, George (Jorgen), 189, 192 
Carthagena, 115 
Castenskiold. See Carstensen. 
Champigny, Marquis de (J. C. 

Brochard), 211 
Charisius, Jonas, Danish envoy, 16 
Charles II, king of England, 23, 36, 41 
Charles II, king of Spain, 26 
Charles X. king of Sweden, 20, 23; 

Charles XII, 188 
Charlotte Amalia, 105, 122, 252 
Charter of 1671, translation of, 294- 

298; of 1697, 299-302 
Christian I, Danish king, 15; Chris- 
tian II, 14, 15; Christian IV, 16; 

interest in trade and exploration, 

16-19; Christian V. 31-34, 36, 37, 

40, 41, 87, 162, 179; Christian VI, 

201. 213, 228; Christian VII, 247 
Christiania, 19, 136; ship at St. 

Thomas, 44 (n.) 
Christiansborg, Guinea "castle," 21, 

40 (n. 24), 80, 140. 182, 213 
Christiansted, 235 
Christianswaern, St. Croix fort, 217 
Clausen, Peter, governor, 237, 244, 

245 
Coins. See Money. 
Colbert and Denmark, 27, 28, 40 (n.); 

his policy, 42, 208 
Colomo, J. J., Porto Rico governor, 

228 



Colonization of New World by 
Europe, summary, 9-13 

Company, Danish West India, first 
proposed, 18; establishment, 31; 
compared with Hudson Bay Com- 
pany, 32-33; charter, 32-35; settle- 
ment of St. Thomas, 35-44; trou- 
bles with early governors, 46, 68, 
passim; lease of St. Thomas to 
Brandenburg African Company, 
Ch. Ill; Thormohlen lease, 95, 98- 
104; Arff lease, Guinea. 95-97; 
resumption of West Indian fac- 
tories, 105-109; governor's posi- 
tion, 119, 120; its plantations, 130- 
133; European trade, 135, 136; 
African slave trade, 144-156; claims 
against Spain, 161; relations with 
planters, 179-198; St. Croix ac- 
quired, 199-212; reorganization 
(1733-34), 204-207; French transfer 
of St. Croix, 210, 211; the new 
charter, Ch. XI; Plan of 1747. 221, 
222; sale of Company's stock to 
king, 240 

"Convention of 1747," 155. 221, 222, 
230, 233, 237, 238 

Copenhagen, 13, 62, 65-68, 73, 81, 
136, 180, 188-90, 201, 213, 220, 233, 

Cotton, 43. 123-125. 180, 194, 204, 
216, 217, 223, 227, 233, 253, 254, 337 

Courland, 21, 68 (n. 73), 80 

Crab island, 70, 73 (n. 7), 80, 87, 102, 
107, 111, 119, 160, 213, 299, 316 

Crappe, Roland, 17 

Cromwell, Oliver, 28 

Crone, Michael, governor, 180, 184, 
191, 192 

Curagao, Dutch island, 12. 69. 106, 
110-112. 115, 116, 147. 248 (n. 6) 

D 

Danish West India Company, first 
proposal for a, 18 

"Danish West Indies." recent planta- 
tion company. 256 



INDEX 



353 



Dansborg. See Malabar. 

Danzig, 29 

Darien Company (Scotch), 119, 189. 
See also W. Paterson, J. Smith. 

de Baas, French governor of St. Croix, 
42 

Delavigne, Francis, governor, 89, 100- 
103, 110, 183 

Delicaet, Jochum, St. Thomas cap- 
tain 50, 56 (n. 35), 69, 84 

Denmark-Norway, rise of nationality, 
13; contest with Hanseatic League, 
13-14; humanistic movement, 14; 
North Atlantic explorations, 16-17; 
war of 1643-45 with Sweden, 19; 
loss of Swedish provinces, 20; ab- 
solute monarchy established, 21-22; 
alliance with England in 1670, 24 

Deurloo, Peter, St. John planter, 169, 
174 

deWindt. -See Windt. 

Diedrichs, von, German admiral, 260 

Directors of Company, list of, 290-291 

Dominica, 23 

Dover, secret treaty (1670), 24, 27 

Du Casse, French governor, 110, 112 

Dutch, activities of, 2, 16, 27, 36, 41, 
42, 55; in West Indies, 12, 38, 83, 
109, 130, 147, 151; in Guinea, 21, 
74, 86, 142, 144; in East Indies, 10, 
11, 17 

Dyppel. See Iversen. 

E 

East Asiatic Company, Danish ship- 
ping firm, 252, 261 

East Friesland, 77 

East India Company, Danish, 11, 31, 
201 

Edwards, Bryan, on St. John's harbor, 
4 (n. 5); 139, 208 

Elizabeth, queen of England, 13 

Elizabeth Farnese, 199 

Elsinore, 15, 29, 35, 52, 136 

Emden, 77, 79, 83, 86, 92 



English in West Indies, settlements of, 

2, 12, 26, 47-60, 222-224, 315-317 
Esmit, Adolph, St. Thomas governor, 

50-58; signature (1687), 66, 97, 109, 

123, 127 
Esmit, Charity, wife of Adolph? 52, 

53, 55-57, 61, 62, 66-69, 303-305 
Esmit, Nicholas, second St. Thomas 

governor, election, 43; signature 

(1682), 46; governorship, 46-50; 

52, 53 (n. 21), 66 
Essex, Earl of, in Copenhagen, 24, 26, 

36 
Exquemelin, John, cited, 49 (n. 8) 

F 

Fabricius, Knud, cited, 27, 28, 31 

Falaiseau, Brandenburg envoy, 86, 
90,91 

Farnese. See Elizabeth. 

Fero, Danish ship, 37, 39 

Fish, Hamilton, American secretary 
of state, 259 

Fleury, Cardinal, 199, 200 

Flushing {Vlissingen), 11 i, 

FoHuna, Danish ship, 58, 60, 61, 63, 64 

Foster, John W., American secretary 
of state, 259 

Frederick III, Elector of Branden- 
burg, 83, 91 

Frederick II, Danish king, 15; Fred- 
erick III, 20, 21, 33, 36, 37; Fred- 
erick IV, 104, 201; Frederick V, 
239, 240, 243 

Frederick II, king of Prussia, 227 

Frederick William I, Great Elector, 
71-94, passim. 

Frederick WiUiam I, king of Prussia, 
91,94 

Fredericksborg, Guinea, 21 

Fredericksted, St. Croix, 235 

French in West Indies, early settle- 
ment of, 12-13 

Friis, D. N., fiscal, 172, 174 

Froling, Danish lieutenant, 174 



354 



INDEX 



Gabel, Frederick, Danish ambassador 
in France, 27 (n. 55) 

Gardelin MSS., cited, 168, 169, 170- 
174, 210 

Gardelin, Philip, governor, signature 
(1732), 166; his mandate on slave 
disorders, 167; the St. John insur- 
rection, 168-178, passim; 181, 182, 
197, 246 (n. 4) 

Gilded Crown, Danish yacht, 37 

Gibe, Marcus, Danish ambassador in 
London, 41 

GlUckstadt, as rival of Hamburg, 19; 
Guinea company formed in G., 21, 
29; company absorbed into West 
India company, 40; M. J. Hen- 
riquea' petition to trade in slaves, 
96 (n. 9) 

Governors in West Indies and Guinea, 
list of, 285-289 

Great Fredericksburg, Guinea, 76, 92, 
93 

Greenland, 14, 19, 20 

Griff enf eld. See Schumacher, Peter. 

Gross-Friedrichsberg. See Great Fred- 
ericksburg. 

Guadaloupe, peace of, 23; island, 12, 
25,249 

Guinea coast, Swedish factory, 21, 
Danish factor of GlUckstadt com- 
pany, 21, 43, 45; new plans in 1680, 
46, 71; Brandenburg African Com- 
pany, 73-78, 82, 83 (n. 55), 89, 91; 
the Arff lease, 95-97; Danish trade, 
Ch. VII; 162, 165, 180, 182, 192, 
220, 234, 237, 239 

Gustavus I (Vasa), 13, 14 

Gyldenlove, U. F., son of Christian V, 
31, 76. 98 (n. 11), 103 (n. 34) 

Gyldensparre, Albert, statemsan, 52, 
57,64 

H 

Hamburg, 19, 29, 103; Danish de- 
signs on, 24, 191, 306, 309 



Hamburg-American Line, 252-260 

Hamilton, Alexander, on hurricane of 
1772, 6-7, 249 

Hamlin, Jean, French pirate, 53-55, 57 

Hans, Danish king, 14 

Hanseatic League, 13, 14, 19 

Hansen, Claus, lieutenant and gover- 
nor, 113, 117, 181-185 

Hansen, Jens, St. Croix governor, 236 
(n. 87), 237 

Haring, C. H,, cited, 25, 26, 111 

Hay, John, American secretary of 
state, 259 

HeiUger, Peter, 226, 235, 236 (n. 86) 

Heins, Christopher, St. Thomas lieu- 
tenant and governor ad interim, 60, 
61, 64; signature (1687), 68, 69, 70, 
80, 182 

Helsingborg, Sweden, 15 

Helsingor. See Elsinore. 

Hill, Thomas, 56 

Hoesz, Sivert, 116 

Hohn, Edvard, cited, 201, 227, 230, 
238, 239 

Hohnsted, Frederick, 153, 202-207, 
passim, 211 

Hoist, Edward, director of Company, 
52, 57 

Hoist, J. N., Danish skipper, 229 

Holstein, Danish duchy, 250, 258 

Holten, Joachim von, governor, 84 
(n. 59), 101, 106, 181, 183-185 

Honduras coast, 26, 161 

Hoppe, Iver, vice-admiral, 66-68, 101 

Horn, John, Company's St. Thomas 
bookkeeper, 172, 173, 175 

Hornbech, Dr., meteorological ob- 
servations, 5 

Host, George, governor ad interim, 
240; work cited, 4, 119, 121, 153, 
167, 175, 176, 177, 206, 211, 213, 
214, 222, 236, 240 

Houtcoper, governor of St. Eustatius, 
60 

Houtman, Cornells, Dutch explorer, 
10 



INDEX 



355 



Hiibner, Martin, authority on inter- 
national law, 243 

Hudson's Bay, 17; the Company, 32- 
34 

Huguenots, refugees from French 
islands, 69, 130 

Humanism in Denmark, 14, 15 

Hurricanes, described, 5-7 



Iceland, 1, 18, 29, 309 

Indians, 21, 23; on St. Thomas, 33, 55, 

122 
Indigo, 123, 180, 194, 204 
Isert, P. F., on slave trader's voyage, 

141-143 
Iversen, George, first governor of St. 

Thomas, Chapter I, passim; 52, 56, 

57 

J 

Jackson, D. H., negro editor, 257 
Jamaica, 23, 25, 26, 46-49, 138, 164 
Jenkins' Ear, War of, 224 (n. 50), 227 
Johnson, A., President, 258, 259 
Johnson, Willis F., cited, 256 
Juel, Jens, minister of state, 31, 45, 52, 
76, 90-92, 103, 108, 146, 179, 304 

K 

Kalmar, Union of, 13, 14 

Keller, A. G., cited, 176, 208 

Kidd, William, English captain, 113- 

118 
Kommerce-kollegiet. See Board of 

Trade. 
Konigsberg, 136 

L 

Labat, Pere, cited, 91 (n. 97), 105 
Labor Union, St. Croix newspaper, 257 
Lang, Major, observations of rainfall, 

5 
Lansing, Robert, American secretary 

of state, 261 
Laporte, Brandenburg official, 79, 81, 

83-88 



Larsen, Kay, cited, 11, 32, 201 (n. 7) 
Lassen, Jens, Danish merchant, 21 

(n. 44) 
Laurentsen. See Lorentzen. 
Laurvigen, Count (Ferdinand An- 

thon), 202 
Leers, J. M., merchant, 120 
Legendre (le blond), French privateer, 

89, 107 
Lente, Christian, 51, 57 
Lerke, Jacob, 120, 146, 147, 188 
Lerke (Lerche) Peter P., director of 

Company, 31, 32, 35 
Leszczynska, Maria, 199 
Leszczynski, Stanislas, 173, 199 
Leyenclo, Anders, Swedish ambassa- 
dor, report on St. Thomas, 67, 73, 95 
Lincoln administration and St. 

Thomas, 257 
Linschoten, Jan van, 10 
LongueviUe, French commander, 174, 

175 
Lorentzen, George, 106 
Lorentz, John, St. Thomas governor, 

48, 58, 69, 70, 81-91, 97, 99-104; 

signature (1685), 105; Chapter V, 

124, 144, 164, 181-183, 189, 205, 

303 (n. 1), 305 
Louis XIV, King of France, 23, 24, 27, 

42, 44, 45; Louis XV, 199, 206, 228 
Liibeck, peace of (1629), 19, 31 
Lund, treaty of (1679), 45 
Lutheran chiu^ch in islands, 122, 159, 

210, 214, 223, 224 
Lynch, Thomas, governor of Jamaica, 

47,53 

M 

Maddox, Enghsh captain, 172 
Madrid, treaty of (1670), 26, 47 
Magens, Theodore (Dietrich), gover- 
nor, 161 (n. 13), 185 (n. 18), 189, 192 
Mahan, A. T., historian, 262 
Malabar (India), 28 
Maria Theresa, Empress-queen, 227 
Martfeldt, C, cited, 4, 150, 159, 164- 



356 



INDEX 



166, 168. 169, 171, 172, 174-176, 

181, 183-185, 187, 191, 194, 197, 

215-218, 226-231. 246, 247 
Martinique. 12, 25, 27, 40, 107, 112, 

172, 173, 175, 192, 206, 208, 210 
Meyer, George, Danish captain, 58, 

62, 63, 95, 96 
Meyer, Herman, director of Com- 
pany, 52 
Mikkelson, M., royal commissioner, 

63-65, 97, 98 
Milan, Gabriel, St. Thomas governor, 

57-70, passim; signature (1686), 59, 

75, 81, 97. 106, 124 
Mims, S. L., cited, 20, 40, 42, 44 
Moltke, A. G., Danish minister, 229, 

238 
Money, values of, 34 (n. 9), paper 

issues, 151, 197; Spanish issues, 196 
Montserrat, 12, 24, 53, 248 (n. 6) 
Moravian missionaries, 34 (n. 8), 158 
Morgan. Henry, buccaneer, 26, 73 
Moth, Frederick, governor, 130, 131, 
170, 185, 197, 208; signature (1732), 
209; 210, 211, 229, 230 
Moth, Mathias, 90-92, 103, 108, 146, 

179, 304 
Moy, Daniel, St. Thomas captain, 63 
MuUer, Henry, 20 
Munk, Jens, 17 
Miinster, treaty of (1648), 25 

N 

Nansen, Hans, 29, 31, 52 

Nantes, Edict of, 69 

Napoleon III, Emperor of French, 

opposed transfer of St. Croix, 258 
Negroes in islands, life of, 123-25, 

Ch. VIII, 218, 219 
Netherlands, United (Protestant 

Netherlands), 19. 23, 24, 29, 44 
Nevell, John, English vice-admiral, 

112 
Nevis, 12, 53, 56, 60 
New Amsterdam. 24 



New England, 188, 193, 195, 231, 233, 

234 
Newton, A. P., cited, 26 (n. 53) 
New York, 195, 196, 231, 233, 234, 308 
Nimeguen, treaties of (1678-79), 71, 

73 
Northern War, 188, 201 
Norway, smuggling in, 220, 238 
Nystadt, treaty of (1721), 150 

O 

Ostend East India Company, 199 

Ottingen, Theodore, 176, 177, 211 
(n. 40) 

Oxenstierna, Axel, Swedish states- 
man, 19 

Oxholm, P. L., cited, 124, 254 



Panama, Spanish American city, 26 
Panama Canal, 256 
Pannet, P. J., cited, 169 (n. 37), 171; 
present at St. Croix (1734), 211, 232 
(n. 77) 
Paper money. See Money. 
Passage, island, 107 
Paterson, WilUam, Scotch financier, 

98, 119 
Pauli, Oliver, Company's secretary, 

41, 49 (n. 8), 305 
Pedersen, Christian, friend of Chris- 
tian II, 15 
Pedy, John, 74-75 
Pelt, A., sugar refiner, 136, 207, 219 
Penn-Venables expedition, 23 
Perry, H. A., cited, 92 
Peterson, Harding, Guinea governor, 96 
Petit Goave, 48, 97, 110-112, 114 
Petkum, Simon, president of Board of 

Trade (1668), 23, 27 
Philip II, king of Spain, 9, 15 
Pies de Indies, described, 141 
Piracy in West Indies, 113-119, 

passim 
Plan of 1747. See Convention. 



INDEX 



357 



Plant resources of islands, 7-8 
Plelo, L. R. H. de B., 200, 201, 203, 

206 
Plessen, C. A. von, 202-206, 210, 211, 

213, 222 (n. 41), 223, 224, 229, 230 
Plessen, C. L. von, 206 
Pointis, Jean-Bernard Desjeans, baron 

de. 111, 112 
Polish Succession, War of, 173, 198^ 

200 
Poll taxes. See Taxation. 
Population of St. Thomas, character 

and number, 37, 39, 121, 122, 247, 

252, 253; of St. Croix (1754), 235, 

248, 249, 253 
Porto Bello, 11, 26, 112 
Porto Rico, 3, 4, 25, 41, 124, 160, 161, 

181, 186, 188, 190-192, 208, 228, 

246, 251, 252, 316 
Portuguese, monopoly in East Indies 

broken by Dutch, 10; slave trade, 

40, 137 
Prices of plantation produce, 133, 232, 

233 
Privateering, 109-119, passim 
Providence, Bahamas, 316 
Providence, Rhode Island, 231 
Provisions, list of, 195 
Provisions, plantations for growing, 

158 
Purchase of Danish islands by United 

States, 261; proposals for, 257-260 

Q 

Quidak Merchant. See Kidd. 

R 

Raasloff, General, Danish minister, 
257 

Rainfall, 5 

Randolph, Edward, 117 

Raule, Benjamin, Brandenburg states- 
man, 71; 71-94, passim 

Rebolledo, Count, Spanish ambas- 
sador, 21 (n. 44) 



Reedtz, George (Jorgen), Danish 

envoye at Madrid, 41 
Reformed faith. See Calvinist. 
Religion, freedom of (on St. Thomas), 

76 
Revolution, American, 249, 250 
Rivera, Porto Rico governor, 192 

(n, 42) 
Roepstorff, Danish governor, 244 
Rordam, H., cited, 201, 224 
Rosenkrantz, Herman, 17 
Royal African Company (British), 

147 (n. 27) 
Royal Danish American Gazette, 248, 

249 
Rule of 1756, 243 
Rum, distillation of, 125; products, 

163 
Ryswick, Peace of (1697), 112, 145 



Saba (Sabath), 12, 69. 109, 247 (n. 6) 

St. Christopher (St. Kitts), 12, 24, 27, 
53, 69, 85, 119, 172, 208, 248 (n. 6), 
316 

St. Croix, 2, 3, 5-8, 12, 47, 144, 155, 
173, 177, 178; acquisition of, by 
Denmark, Chap. X; 213, 215-227, 
228, 230, 233, 234, 235-237, 239, 
244-263, passim 

St. Croix under the French, 42, 69, 75, 
198, 208 

St. Eustatius, 12, 53 (n. 21), 60, 69, 
80, 84, 109, 161 (n. 11) 187, 192, 
226 (n. 54), 227, 247 (n. 6) 

St. John, slave insurrection on, 168- 
178, 246 

St. John, 2-4, 8, 38, 80, 107, 127-130, 
133, 134, 151, 163, 165, 166, 168- 
178, 193, 198, 207, 213, 216, 236, 
246-248, 250, 258, 315, 316 

St. Kitts. See St. Christopher. 

St. Lucia, 317 

St. Martin, 248 (n.) 

St. Peter, island in West Indies, 80 



358 



INDEX 



St. Thomas, area, 2; description, 3, 4 
climate, 4-7; plant resources, 8 
first attempts at settlement, 28, 29 
preparations for settlement, 34, 35 
settlement begun, 37-44; guber- 
natorial troubles, 45-68; BrandeU' 
burgers at St. Thomas, 71-94 
Thomohlen lease, 95, 98-104 
Lorentz's governorship, 105-120 
plantations, 121-127, 130-133; slave 
trade at St. Th., 137-155; life of 
slaves in St. Th., 157-167; St. Th. 
planters and the Company, Ch. IX; 
prices of goods, 223-227; fugitive 
slaves, 228; privateers (after 1740), 
229; trading privileges, 233; separa- 
tion from St. Croix government, 
236; population (1765), 247; free 
trade edict (1764), 250; shipping in 
19th century, 252-253; population 
(1773-1901), 253; sugar planting 
(1796-1851), 254-255; purchase 
plans of U. S., 257-261 

St. Vincent, 23, 75 

San Domingo, 12, 13, 25, 111, 208. 
See also Petit Goave. 

Santa Lucia, 252, 317 

Scelle, G., cited, 145 

Schimmelmann, Ernest, 247 

Schleswig, Danish duchy, 35, 250, 258 

Schmidt, Erik Nielsen, 29, 37 

Schmidt, J. C, cited, 158-160; 159 
(n.8) 

Schopen, J. W., planter delegate, 232, 
2.39, 240 

Schumacher, Peter, Count Griff en - 
feld, 31, 57 

Schweder, Christian, governor, 226, 
228, 230, 231 

Scott, W. R., cited, 148 

Seeberg, Christian, 181, 185, 196, 198 

Sehested, C, 190 

Seward, W H., American secretary 
of state, 257-260 

Shareholders of Company, 292-293, 
342-349 



Sharp, Bartholomew, buccaneer, 49 
(n.8) 

Shipping in Danish islands, 249-253 

Slagelse, K. J., 30, 37, 39 

Slave insurrection, St. John (1733), 
168-178; St. Croix (1759), 246-247 

Slaves, runaways, 190, 191, 228, 246 

Slave trade, 21, 43, 45, 73-79, 95-97, 
131, 135, Chapter VII, 195, 218, 221, 
234, 239, 247, 253, 320-326. See 
also Guinea Coast, Gliickstadt, 
Christiansborg, Great Fredericks- 
burg, Asiento. 

Sleswig. See Schleswig. 

Smith, James, connection with Darien 
Company, 119 (n. 50), 189 

Smith, Peter, St. Thomas merchant, 
113, 115, 123, 189 

Soedtmann, J. R., St. John official, 168 

Sommer, Soren, 223, 224 

Sound, control of the, 15, 19. 20 

Spain, her monopoly of America con- 
tested, 10-13; protest against 
Danes on St. Thomas, 41; report of 
projected attack, 110; Danish 
claims against, 228 

Spaniards in America, 75, 147, 186, 
217, 223, 238, ^3, 306, 315-317 

Spanish Succession, War of, 126, 131, 
149, 150, 160, 165, 181, 184, 185, 
190, 192, 195, 199 

Spice Islands, 11 

Stanislas Leszczynski. See Leszczyn- 
ski. 

Stapleton, William, British Leeward 
Islands governor, 41, 47, 50, 51-57, 
60, 127 

Stettm, 136 

Stoud, H. J. O., Lutheran minister, 
223-225 

Sugar, 30, 43. 123-125; Chapter VI, 
passim; 180, 194, 195, 204, 206, 207, 
213, 216-229, 222, 226. 233, 238, 
245, 249, 253-256; mills, 254-255; 
refinery, 136, 205-207, 219, 222, 
237, 238, 328-331, 336 



INDEX 



359 



Suhm, Christian, governor, 230 
(n. 70) 231, 236 (n. 87) 

Suhm, Henry, governor, 163, 170, 182 

Sumner, Charles, U. S. Senator, 259 

Sunderland, Earl of, 52, 57 

Surinam, 24 

Swedish mb assador. See Leyenclo. 

Sweden, in Union of Kalmar, 13; in- 
dependent under Gustavas I, 14; 
gains the three provinces, 20; se- 
cures factory on Guinea coast of 
Africa, 21, 23, 24, 27, 28, 44; peace 
with Denmark (1678), 45; threat- 
ened attack on St. Thomas, 150; 
trade in sugar, 136 



U 

Unicorn, Jens Munk's ship, 17 
Utrecht, Peace of (1713), 196, 226 



Van Belle, Peter, Brandenburg factor, 
108 (n. 8), 115, 116, 118, 119 

Vera Cruz, 11 

Versailles, Peace of (1783), 251 

Vervins, treaty of (1598), 25 

Vessup, William, 171 

Vieques, island. See Crab. 

Virginia, 19, 40, 124, 317 

von Frock, Baron, C. L. B., Danish 
governor, 245, 246 (n. 3) 



Tallard, English captain, 171 
Taxation of planters, 123, 126. 127, 

131 
Taxes on Danish islands, 186-190, 

194, 215-218, 236, 237 
Temple, Sir William, quoted, 24 
Thambsen, O. J., governor, 182, 183, 

184 
Theaters on St. Croix, 248 
Thormohlen, George, Bergen mer- 
chant, 82, 89, 95, 98-104, ■passim, 

205 
Tobacco, 1, 30, 43, 69, 79 (n. 37), 123, 

124, 134, 294 
Tobago, 12. 80, 88 
Tortola, 3, 38. 50, 90. 171, 172 (n. 49), 

247 (n. 6) 
Tortuga, 12, 25 
Tranquebar, East India Company 

factory, 11, 17 
Trinidad, 12 

Triple Alliance (1668), 24 
Trompeuse, La, 53-55 



W 

West India trade, beginnings under 
Frederick III, 20; other early voy- 
ages, 28-30 

Weyse family, sugar refiners, 136, 
207 (n. 21). 219 

Wheler, Charles, British Leeward 
Islands governor, 41 

Willom, John de, 17, 18, 19 (n. 37) 

Windt, J. J. de, St. Thomas planter, 
189 

Y 

Yeaman, G. H., 258, 259 
Yucatan. 26 (n. 55), 41, 47 



Zahle (Danish) ministry, 261 
Zeeland, province of Netherlands, 10, 

72, 83, 103 
Zinck, A., St. Thomas delegate (1706), 

186-188 
Zytsema, A., St. Thomas delegate 

(1706), 186-188 



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